


Keeper

by Mayclore



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 07:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 183,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4514166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayclore/pseuds/Mayclore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remnant is the grand prize in a chess match everlasting, but Vale and her people will pay the price when a third player wonders about his role in a game originally meant for two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Updates concerning story and chapter progress occur every Friday in r/RWBY's weekly fan fiction post. Coincidentally, the sub is also the most reliable way to get in contact with me, if that's a thing you want to do.**

* * *

 "Mind the fort until I get back, new guy," called Indigo, the owner of what was perhaps Vale's tiniest Dust shop. Her hand was already on the handle as she spoke.

Her dusky voice snapped Opher Riese out of his reverie. If he'd learned anything during the past two weeks under her employ, it was that when the clock struck noon, she was heading to lunch. You could set a clock by the woman's appetite.

"I think I'll head to that pizza place," she intoned thoughtfully. "You know, that one on the corner of 14th and Andesite. You want anything?"

Opher ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, collecting his thoughts. He replied, "Yeah. Preferably with sausage. Maybe peppers. Doesn't matter, I'll eat whatever."

"You are so easy to please, new guy. Have fun!" She flashed him a thumbs up and departed.

"My name is… never mind." Now her precious shop was his, all four basically empty floor shelves of it. On an average day he'd do inventory while his boss was away. Lately there wasn't enough stock to make the effort worth it, thanks to the crime wave. Despite this, Opher decided a simple look around couldn't hurt, so off he went.

There was plenty of time for Opher to check what needed restocking. Hardly anyone ever came by at this hour. They probably had the same idea Indigo did: why shop when you could go eat instead? Opher was frankly happy for the idle time. He wiled away the minutes by watching Vale walk by outside the plate glass windows up front.

One of those people didn't walk by, however; she walked in. He recognized her uniform; this was a student from Beacon, with long, almost painfully brilliant red hair and bright green eyes. She wore a polite, if hesitant smile. "Oh, hello," she greeted, losing track of what small talk she was planning as she noted the lack of wares on the shelves. "...ah…?"

He couldn't help but gaze at her for a moment; she bore an incredible resemblance to a friend from long ago. "I know," he said at length, trying again to pat down the terrible mess that was his hair. "We're waiting on our next shipment. You're welcome to browse what we've got."

"Right. Thank you." She wandered over to shelf number one and started looking. "I'm not keeping you, am I? I know it's lunchtime."

Opher shrugged off her concern. "Nah, my boss always leaves me here to mind the store while she goes to eat."

The redhead turned a deep blue Dust crystal over in her hand. "Well. That seems a little mean."

"Eh. I'm used to it by now." He watched her put the crystal away and grab another. She still appeared a little concerned. "Don't worry, she'll bring back food for me. Take your time."

A little chuckle escaped her lips, one that was more anxious than she intended. "Oh, all right. Good to know."

He'd been watching her long enough to realize her face was a little familiar. It wasn't that he'd seen her around town. Well, not in _person_. "Wait, aren't you on a cereal box? Pumpkin Pete's-"

Her cover blown, Pyrrha winced a little and looked over at him. "Th-that would be me, yes."

"Wow, that must have been something."

His neutral acknowledgment of the whole thing made her feel a little better. "You have no idea. I get asked for so many autographs."

Opher stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "I won't be asking, so don't worry. I'm not even sure why you're famous."

Which was sort of refreshing, as far as she was concerned. "I really appreciate it." Pyrrha couldn't help but notice he had tattoos now, a whole, thick sleeve of black symbols that covered the visible parts of his left arm from the wrist up. As with everyone she encountered, Pyrrha analyzed him whenever she noted him looking away. Her initial impression of him was how much he looked like Jaune, save for a few key differences. Height was one of these; Opher was a couple of inches shorter than her leader. Hair color was another. His was a dusky, almost dirty brown. Otherwise, he was clean-cut and somewhat lanky, just like Jaune.

"What?" Opher asked, having caught her gaze.

His muted green eyes were the last thing she could note before trying to smooth things over. "You, ah, look like a friend of mine, that's all," she replied hastily. "Don't mind me!" At last, she decided on a wind and ice Dust crystal and brought them up, one in each hand. "Here we are. I hope this is what Professor Peach wanted."

They made a clinking sound as she set them on the glass case. "Don't be nervous. Unless you're planning to rob me, I won't bite."

"Oh! I wouldn't dream of it! Really. I swear." She produced a Lien card and waited for him to ring up her sale. At this close range, it was apparent that something was _off_ about this young man. His eyes were too much like hers – he'd seen things. He'd fought. Of course, she was much too cordial to pry.

"13.75," he said, looking up from the register and noticing her gaze again. "You've been staring at me a lot, you know."

"Oh! I'm-" Pyrrha looked away, trying fruitlessly to dismiss the embarrassed color from her cheeks. "I'm sorry! I'm just… um… nothing! Forget it!" In the act of handing him her card, she brushed his hand with her fingers.

That brief contact let her detect something terrifying. It manifested first as a light like any other Aura; his was an ashen gray color. But in the instant's worth of contact she had with him it changed to something else entirely. Parts of it seemed to be anchored to him like the roots of a tree. Others clung to his frame like misshapen arms with no hands or joints. Behind his head she caught the faintest glimpse of some gray fog peeking out. The vision left Pyrrha slack-jawed and silent.

"Uh… what?" Opher asked, waiting for her to take her card back.

"Nothing! Everything is fine!" Pyrrha snatched the card back and crammed it, and her purchase, into her bag. "Thank you!" she chirped awkwardly, turning quickly away. "Sorry for staring! Have a nice day!" she added as she moved toward the door. "Goodbye!"

The look on her face left Opher more than a little confused. "What the hell just happened?" he asked the hand she'd touched. "I'm not _that_ sc-" And then it hit him. "Oh, damn it. She saw, didn't she." He rested his arms on the counter and leaned forward with a frown. "And she goes to Beacon. This might get complicated."

Indigo burst in just then, balancing a couple of boxes and cups in her arms. Her purplish-blue ponytail bounced with every step. "Opher! I just saw Pyrrha Nikos!"

He raised up and watched her stumble toward him. "Oh? So did I. She was just in here."

"Are you screwing with me?" she asked, dropping her load and staring up at him. "Did she buy anything?"

Opher rolled his eyes. "Yes, Indy, she bought something."

Indigo clapped her hands with glee. "Awesome! Hey, think she'd be a spokeswoman for the shop?"

"I doubt we have the Lien to pay her fees, shorty." Opher opened one of the boxes and removed a slice of pizza.

"Damn!" A perturbed Indigo stormed into the backroom, ranting about their revenue.

Her tirade went unnoticed by Opher, whose thoughts were focused elsewhere. He stared outside with a frown, wondering just how much Pyrrha had seen of the _other_ him.

* * *

A trickle of customers passed through Indigo's little shop, and as the sun crept away to die behind the western horizon, Opher was preparing for his shift to end. "Indy! I'm clocking out!" he called into the back.

"All right! Have a good weekend!"

To restrain his hair he plopped on an urban camouflage hat, and walked out. The muggy heat nearly took his breath away. "Ugh. I wonder when the word 'summer' started meaning 'oven'," he breathed, staring up at the clouds. His path took him through the evening crowd and northeast, away from downtown and toward a rather seedier part of the kingdom. The streets grew more empty the closer he got to home.

There were, however, those who waited beyond his gaze. Pyrrha, in her usual armor, crouched on the edge of a tall building with Jaune at her side. "There," she said, pointing down at Opher as he walked past. "That's him."

"He looks like me," Jaune noted with a frown, "which, by the way, is totally not a compliment." Her slap on the shoulder, feather-light as it was, made him gasp. "I'm just being honest here!"

"Don't sell yourself short." She looked back down just as their quarry disappeared. "Come on, we have to jump across."

"Are you serious? I'd need wings to clear this!"

Pyrrha cocked a brow at him. "I suppose I could throw you over, but I'm trying to keep this covert, and, um, you have a tendency to scream. I don't want any loud noises."

He regarded her blankly. "That's why you told me to tell Nora to stay in the dorm, isn't it."

"It is absolutely why I told you to tell her to stay in the dorm, yes. Please don't tell her I said that." She backed up a few steps and charged, flinging herself over the street below and reaching the other roof with effortless grace. "Come on!" she said, waving to her leader.

"I'm gonna die." Jaune backed up much further than she did, just to be sure, and ran forward with all the speed he could muster. He made it over to her, although with much more flailing. He tumbled for a few feet after landing and tried to bounce up like nothing had happened. "Success! W-whoa. Blood. All the blood to my head. Oh boy."

Pyrrha shook her head with a smile and walked over to the opposite ledge. "Still going north. This is a pretty bad part of town, isn't it?"

"If you say so." Jaune watched him walk slowly onward. "Why are you so interested in this guy, exactly?"

Her eyes narrowed a little. "I saw his Aura by accident. The way it looked… it was so wrong. I'm worried it might be something the teachers should know about."

"Then we should, I don't know, talk to the teachers instead of stalking this guy, right?" He raised his hands a bit as she looked over. "What? I'm trying to be leaderly. That's what a _leader_ would say. Isn't it?"

"I don't want to bother them with something that turns out to be nothing. That's all." She peeked down at the sidewalk and found it empty. "Let's drop down," she said, giving him no time to object before she took the plunge. With a tepid thrum, her Semblance enveloped them both. Gripping her own armor with it was easy; Jaune's lighter plate was a different story. She nearly dropped him as they reached the concrete. "Oops. Sorry."

"No problem," he assured her breathlessly. "I really need to stop flailing when I fall off of stuff." He led her across the street just as their target turned another corner. "Really don't think we should hang around here too long."

"Agreed." Fortunately, he was just a few yards ahead as they made the turn themselves. Between the late hour and her unsavory surroundings, Pyrrha was beginning to feel pressured. Her original plans went out the window. "Excuse me!" she called uncertainly.

Opher came to a stop and looked back over his shoulder. "What's going... oh." He turned to face them and blinked at Jaune. "I mean, I don't know who you are, but you," he said, firing a displeased glance at Pyrrha. "My life is about to get difficult, isn't it?"

"We're not here to make your life harder, trust me," she replied. "I just want to talk to you."

Jaune looked at her, then Opher, and shrugged. "I'm here to back her up. That's pretty much it. Whichever way this goes."

"Admirable, I guess," Opher said with a nod. "Were you seriously following me? What the hell?"

Pyrrha screwed up her courage and strode toward him. "Your Aura is – I don't even know how to describe it. I've never seen anything like it before. Why does it look that way?"

"None of your fucking business," Opher spat bitterly. The question was all it had taken for him to lose his patience with the whole affair. "Leave me _alone_."

His venomous tone served to confirm Pyrrha's original notion that something was amiss. However, she now had a sinking feeling that she'd overstepped her bounds. "Perhaps I made a mistake. Ah, Jaune, we should go. I think."

"He swore at you. Aren't I supposed to defend your honor, or something?" Jaune peered at him and blinked. "...I could take him. I'm fifty percent sure." Another look made him frown. "Maybe forty."

Opher was still furious in spite of Pyrrha's show of deference. "If her honor is worth dying for, then come on," he said, folding his arms.

"Whoa! Whoa," she interjected. "No. None of that, please. This is my fault. I apologize. There's no need to come to blows."

"Yeah, well, I don't particularly care for this kind of attention. Especially not from an Academy." It was clear that neither of them was really willing to fight, which helped him cool down. Despite that, his guard remained up. "Look, just keep your curiosity to yourself, all right? Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home. I mean, it's right there," he concluded, waving at an apartment block across the street.

"Yes, of course. I'm-" She fell silent, as Opher didn't even wait for her to apologize again before he started off. "Well, that was a rapier wasp nest I wasn't expecting to stir up."

"Yep. You're right though, something is definitely weird about that guy." Jaune turned around and began to move. "Still think he's worth telling the teachers about?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe." She followed him, but kept watching Opher until he entered his apartment building. "Maybe it's not my place to barge into his life, either."

Unbeknownst to them, Jaune and Pyrrha were also being watched. A dark-skinned girl with pale green hair loomed above them briefly before retreating out of sight behind a ledge. She looked at her male partner, who, unsurprisingly, wasn't paying a bit of attention. Both were in Haven Academy uniforms. "Mercury, if you're asleep I'm going to-"

"I'm not, but I sure _wish_ I were," he said. "Are you done with your little investigation?"

A growling Emerald produced her Scroll. "No, it's just gotten started. Why would oh-so-perfect Pyrrha Nikos feel the need to stalk this guy, huh? She has to know him. And if she knows him, I want to know him," she said, tapping the button to open it. "Cinder should probably hear about this too. Something fishy is going on."

Mercury sat up and watched her tap the screen. "I don't know what this thing between you and Cinder is, but man. Aren't just you a precious little teacher's pet?"

Emerald rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever. You're just mad she likes me more."

"It's Cinder! She doesn't like anybody!"

"I'd bet you _money_ she likes me more than you. Come on, let's get back." Emerald stared at the apartment building, committing its location to her memory, then turned away. On the Scroll in her hand were a few pictures she'd taken of the stranger. "Maybe we should pay this guy a visit in the morning."

* * *

Dawn came with a persistent drizzle that forced Opher off his steel balcony and back into the living room. "So much for my plans today," he grumbled, moving back indoors. The weather was still acceptable enough, he decided, to run down and get breakfast. Once he had some Lien, he picked up a gold coin from his kitchen counter and slipped it into his jeans pocket. The Lien, however, went under his hat, an old habit he'd picked up from dodging street thieves in Vacuo. Despite it being in his pocket, he kept his hand around the coin as he walked outside and down the street. Even though the rain had picked up, there were others on the sidewalks. A dark-skinned girl with pale green hair stuck out like a sore thumb.

Emerald was doing her best to look like an inattentive tourist. She glanced from side to side with an open mouth and feigned confusion until she bumped right into him. In an instant, she'd checked his pockets for loot, but only found his clenched fist in one before the impact separated them. "Oh! I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm not really sure where I am."

"I can tell," Opher replied, a brow slightly raised. "This isn't the best neighborhood." He pointed south. "You might have better luck that way."

She cocked her head and kept up the act. "Better luck?"

"I felt you check my pockets," he stated, walking past without another word.

"Wh-" A suddenly grumpy Emerald growled at his back as he moved away. "I hate hard targets." When Opher took a right turn and vanished, she pulled out her Scroll and made a call. "Hey, he's heading right for you. Hold him up until I get there."

"Yeah, yeah," Mercury replied with a yawn. He peeked around a corner and saw Opher's approach. "I see him." Tucking his Scroll away, he stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Excuse me?" he called. "I'm a little, uh, _lost_. Do you know where the shopping district is, by any chance?"

"Sure. Just follow me," Opher said, not even slowing down.

Which put a hole in Mercury's plans that he had to act quickly to patch. "Oh, okay, but can we wait for my friend to catch up? Should be just a minute."

Opher halted and turned to regard him, getting a smile for his effort. It was not returned. "Fine. I hope they're quick. I don't want to be out here when the storm shows up."

"You and me both," he affirmed with a shrug, He walked into an alleyway with Opher in tow. "Wanna share my umbrella? Not right for you to go without."

He tapped the hat on his head. "I'll manage." Mercury's boot-mounted greaves caught his eye. "Interesting."

"Oh, aren't they? I'm a student at Haven. Just here for the Vytal Festival and all. Vale's pretty… fun."

"Isn't it, though." For a split-second, the rain stopped hitting his hat and tipped him off that something was above. When Emerald landed in a crouch to his left, therefore, his surprise was muted. "Huh. Here to try and rob me again?"

"Don't start with me," she fired back, taking shelter under Mercury's gray umbrella. His snickering made her glare. "Don't _you_ start, either."

"Now she's gonna be grumpy all day," he said with a grin.

"I do get the feeling this isn't about directions," Opher cut in. "News must travel fast if I have two Academies' worth of students after me."

Emerald leaned against the brick wall behind her and eyed his tattoo sleeve. "We couldn't help but notice how Pyrrha was acting. Care to explain why?"

"Here's a thought: ask _her_ that and leave me alone." His attempt to leave the alley was blocked after a few steps by Mercury. "You are actually doing this, aren't you?"

"It's not worth getting knocked around over a few questions, is it?" he asked, bouncing from heel to heel. "Come on, don't make me deal with a ticked-off Emerald all morning. Cut me some slack."

"Yeah. Don't be difficult," Emerald added, falling in behind Opher. "We're just trying to figure out what's going on. For a _friend_."

He didn't believe that for a second. As he glanced over his shoulder at her, then back at Mercury, a gust of wind blew through the narrow space. "I am truly sorry," he murmured, holding down his hat with his left hand, "but I'm trying to beat the weather." That gust became a sustained howl, then ceased altogether. While Mercury fumbled with his umbrella, Opher suddenly launched skyward and landed on the roof of the building from which Emerald had jumped earlier.

"What the—?" she exclaimed, his departure so quick she didn't have time to draw her weapons. "How did… ugh. I'm going after him. Can you kick yourself that high?"

"Afraid not," he said, squinting against the rain. "I'll follow down here in case he jumps down."

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but good idea." Emerald scrambled up the external stairs, reaching the top just in time to see him leaping between structures a block or so distant. "You must really have something to hide, huh?" she asked, breaking into a sprint.

They bounced from rooftop to rooftop in the driving rain. While Opher had a head start, Emerald was fast enough to close the gap. She hurled herself across the narrow streets of Vale for three more blocks in pursuit, until finally she started landing on buildings just as he was leaving them. As she continued to close the distance, she shouted, "Stop running!"

Opher glanced back at her and yelled, "Or you could stop chasing me, that would also work." He flung himself onto a large, sloped, rectangular roof as the rain intensified. The surrounding buildings were all much taller than this one.

Emerald noticed this and figured she had him trapped; he even came to a stop, which led her to believe he thought the same. "I was planning on being nice until you got me soaking wet," she grumbled, drawing her revolvers. "I've killed people for less."

Opher, also completely drenched, crossed his arms and frowned at her. "So have I."

She kept her guns trained on him and moved closer. "Then why are you buddies with Pyrrha? That sanctimonious little… you don't seem like the kind of company she would keep."

Emerald's assumption turned his scowl into a smirk. "Do you always jump to conclusions? No wonder you're so spry. She doesn't even know my name."

"Wait, what?" Emerald let her face, and her weapons, drop a little. "Yesterday suddenly makes even _less_ sense."

Opher groaned, rubbing at his eyes as the wind picked up once more. "Welcome to my life." A wind kicked up, so fierce it began to blow him around on the slippery metal.

Or that's what it looked like, until Emerald realized the breeze around _her_ wasn't very stiff at all. "You almost had me!" she snapped, opening fire on him. And she almost had him, too; none of her shots actually struck. In fact, they seemed to curve subtly away from her target. "Huh?" Her surprised utterance barely had time to get out before he flung himself at her, bringing the gale with him. A cold mass slammed into her stomach, stealing her breath and knocking the revolvers out of her hands.

With the girl on her hands and knees at his feet, Opher drove a shoe into her shoulder blades to force her down. "Let's see if your friend is as stupid as you are," he said lowly, and jumped from the roof to the pavement below.

Rain tapped Emerald's skin as she struggled to heft herself off the cold metal. She grabbed her Scroll and rolled onto her back, hissing with pain. "Mercury… do you see him?"

"Nope. Why, he get away from you too?"

"We danced. I didn't exactly win." With considerable effort, she sat upright and took deep breaths. "My bullets wouldn't hit him. I don't know if he has a Semblance like Pyrrha or if something else is going on."

"This guy just gets more and more interesting."

Emerald stared up at the darkening clouds. "Yeah, well, all I care about now is getting somewhere dry. We should probably ask Cinder what to do next."

* * *

After hanging over Vale for the entire morning, the storm proper finally arrived. Coupled with the earlier steady rain, this deluge brought on quick street flooding and drove everyone into whatever shelter they could find. Everyone, that was, except for Opher. He had the town to himself, more or less, and used the lack of traffic to get in a good run home. On this occasion, nobody accosted him, which meant he returned to his neighborhood in blistering time. He kept an eye out for the two kids that had chased him when he got there, but saw neither.

"About time I got some peace," he muttered while dashing across the empty road. When he reached the awning over the entrance, he checked both inside and out for bystanders. Satisfied he was alone, Opher closed his eyes and concentrated. His dripping clothes began to emit little wisps of steam; in sixty seconds, everything he wore was dry as a bone.

His Scroll began to chirp just as he got inside. "Hello, shorty," he greeted, knowing it had to be Indigo. "I can't believe you opened today. Aren't you hungover?"

"Mmm, good guess, but no," a a sultry voice replied. It certainly wasn't the green-headed pickpocket from earlier. "Perhaps you should try again."

Opher stopped halfway up the first flight of stairs and blinked. "Who is this?"

"Names aren't important. I don't appreciate people beating up on my associates."

He resumed his climb, though at a slower pace. "Maybe your associates shouldn't be chasing me, then."

The stranger laughed briefly. "Sometimes she thinks before she acts, but she triesso _hard_. I'd be worried about her getting revenge. The girl can hold a grudge." And then whoever it was hung up.

"I should have stayed up north," he lamented, tucking the device away. "Nobody there was trying to kill me. So far as I know."

Attentive, but not exactly frightened, Opher carefully opened the door to his apartment and peeked in. Nothing jumped at him, so he proceeded forward, step by step, into the small living room. For once, his lack of unnecessary furniture proved useful; it minimized hiding spots. The living room was clear, as was the kitchen beyond. Past that lay a hallway. He sliced the corner into wedges as if he were aiming a gun. After clearing it, he headed toward the far end of the corridor and the bedroom. That door was open. When he left earlier, it had been closed. As he slowly approached, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"What's up," Mercury greeted as he turned, before driving a straight kick into his chin. A shot went off. He had made contact, but Opher stayed on his feet and only leaned back with the impact. His head was cloaked in the gun's smoke. Mercury prepared to spin and deliver a finishing blow, but slipped on the tile floor. Or, rather, he slipped on a sudden patch of ice. "What the-"

Opher charged forward and grabbed him by the hair, driving his face down into the floor. "Wow. _Wow_. This is getting old." He kept ramming Mercury's head against the tile, being careful to keep his legs pinned. "'Go to Vale,' I told myself. 'The summers are so much warmer,' I said. 'A change of scenery will be good for you.' What the _fuck_ was I thinking?" He kept up the assault until his attacker went mostly limp beneath him.

"Why… why are you not dead?" Mercury wheezed through the pain.

A cruel grin split Opher's lips. "If I had a Lien for every time somebody asked me that… Call that woman. I want to talk to her."

"And if I don't?" He grew still as a cold sensation penetrated the hair on the back of his head. In the corners of his eyes, he could see ice beginning to form. "Okay! Okay! Take the Scroll out of my back pocket." Once he had it, he slowly dialed a number, a task made harder by the concussion he'd suffered.

It only rang once before she answered. "I hope we're done with this. We're wasting time."

"Uh, Cinder..." Mercury moaned.

Opher snatched it away from him. "Cinder, is it? Yeah, hi. I have your boy here on the floor in my kitchen. I'm trying to decide how to kill him."

"Yeah, if we could _not_ kill me, that'd be awesome," Mercury whined.

"Unbelievable… Mercury, what happened?"

He groaned at her complaining tone. "Really appreciate the vote of confidence, thanks."

"Actually, you know what? I just mopped this floor and I don't feel like doing it again." Opher looked at a window off to the side. "You obviously know where I live, so come get him. He'll be on the roof. Oh, and let me make this as clear as possible: leave me the fuck alone!" He ended the call and tugged Mercury to his feet. "This is your first and only warning. If either of you show up again, you're leaving in body bags. I've run out of patience."

"Noted," he said in a warbling tone, barely able to keep his feet under him as they walked out of Opher's apartment. "Why do I see three of everything?" A potent downpour greeted them on the roof. Opher tossed him down just beyond the door.

"Pass along a message to your friend for me, would you?" he asked while turning away. "Tell her you two might be _equally_ stupid."

Mercury just moaned in reply, trying hard to clear the cobwebs from his brain. He had to wait for his Aura to do that work for him. "I hate today." The rain abruptly stopped. "Huh?"

Emerald had arrived. She stood over him with his gray umbrella in hand, staring at the bruises on his face. "Wow, he messed you up good, didn't he?"

He sat up and rubbed his temples. "His face didn't mind my kick very much. Guy's obviously a Huntsman or something. I don't think I even made a dent."

She looked down at the open Scroll in her other hand. "I'm glad Cinder made you do this. Ma'am, what next?"

Cinder's voice was stern and chilly. "This little escapade is over. If you're right about him being a Huntsman, I don't want the attention. Get back here so we can think about damage control."


	2. Chapter 2

Cinder Fall occupied one of the beds in their dorm room at Beacon while her henchmen, as usual, sat on the floor. Emerald's posture was uncertain and pensive. Mercury's posture betrayed how much he was still hurting due to Opher's attack.

"You not only failed to kill this person," Cinder began, her voice hardly above a whisper, "but now he knows my name."

Mercury raised his hand. "In my defense, when he called you I barely knew what kingdom I was in. Secrecy was not the first thing on my mind." A bitter glare from Cinder forced his arm back down.

"Sometimes I wonder what _is_ on your mind, Mercury." Her fiery eyes landed on Emerald, who shrank with fear.

She didn't speak immediately. Instead, Cinder waited, watching her subordinate squirm harder with every passing moment. When she opened her mouth at last, her words were ice. "Why did I listen to you?"

All Emerald had to give was a frightened smile and terrified stare. "I was just trying to be, you know, proactive," she stated weakly. "It seemed like a loose end we'd have to tie up eventually."

"Of course. After all, what is one more body on our little pile?" Cinder snapped her eyes back to Mercury. "A body you failed to deliver."

"Next time I'll kick harder." A bolt of agony shot through his skull as he moved his head. "Agh! Can I go to bed, please?"

She crossed her arms and peered at him. "When I'm _done_ with you," she stated, her words tainted with bitter cruelty.

"I mean, he was pretty clear about being left alone, right?" Emerald asked herself this more than her leader. "Maybe it goes both ways. We just keep our distances from each other and noooo problem." Cinder's expression darkened further, causing Emerald to shrink with terror. "Wh-what?"

"Yes, because we all know how much I _love_ dealing with maybes." Cinder became so agitated that sitting still was no longer an option. She rose from her bed and paced around her nervous henchmen. "Thanks to you two, all the time and effort I've spent planning and waiting and dealing with Roman Torchwick is now dependant… on a _maybe_." Despite her tone never darkening, nor rising in volume, she'd turned Emerald into a shaking wreck. Even Mercury looked uncomfortable in his own skin.

Foolishly, Emerald tried to fix things. "Ma'am, I'm-"

Cinder silenced her words with an outstretched finger. "No. I've spent the entire morning letting you call the shots. You two just waved a sign at a huntsman that says 'here we are, please come kill us.'"

Every word Cinder spoke was a dagger to Emerald's heart. She could barely respond through her growing remorse. "M-ma'am, I swear I had no-"

"Enough." She looked down at Mercury, who by this point was lying on the carpeted floor and constantly emitting a series of pained groans. "Go to bed. I am _tired_ of listening to you."

He released a tremendous exhalation of relief. "About ti-I, uh, I mean thanks."

They watched him haul himself up, stumble over, and fall into a bed across the room. He was out as soon as his head touched the pillow. Being left alone with Cinder's quiet displeasure was almost more than Emerald could take; her urge to weep was increasing by the second. By some miracle she managed to swallow her misery.

Cinder, meanwhile, said nothing. She was too deep in thought, too busy weighing what she knew and what she didn't. Emerald's distress was evident, but she elected to let her wallow in it for a while. It would help drive the lesson home. Only when she seemed ready to pop did Cinder begin to walk back her unhappiness. "Are you going to cry?"

"No. Wh-what gives you that idea?" she asked, feigning cheerfulness.

Cinder glanced at her trembling hands and smiled. "Of course. How silly of me." She turned her back on Emerald and gazed through the room's single window. The weather had turned pleasant at last; students filled her view of the courtyard. "Perhaps you've found something."

The shift in her demeanor gave Emerald some solace, but left her slightly confused. "I… did?"

"Why would a huntsman so vehemently reject his association with the Academies?" Cinder wondered out loud. "He seems to be something else entirely. I can sympathize with someone that has things to hide. We'll give him his peace for now, assuming he gives us ours." She allowed herself a tiny, twisted smile. "Part of me wonders if he can be turned. He sounded... bitter."

Emerald wiped her eyes and took a deep breath while Cinder wasn't looking. "You want us to go talk to him again?"

She snapped her head around, shocking Emerald with the angry scowl on her face. " _No_. Our little operation is too close to its end to bring in a new face. For what comes next, however… who knows."

"Okay. Everyone back to their corners for now, I guess." Feeling safe enough to move again, Emerald got to her feet and stretched. A tiny frown appeared at the ache that continued to plague her shoulders. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know it was gonna go, well, like _this_."

Cinder sauntered past her and toward the door, brushing over the pleats in her uniform skirt as she walked. "I shouldn't have listened to you. We are too close to success to risk getting our hands dirty with hunches." She stopped at the door to regard Emerald with a slightly-less pointed gaze. "I'm going to lunch. Do _nothing_ until I get back. We will stick with our original plan until we cannot. Understand?"

Emerald stiffened up and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Once Cinder had left, she wilted on her feet and finally let herself gasp for air. "That went… okay." To soothe her nerves, she stood at the window and stared out at the courtyard. One group in track suits running laps around the edge of the space caught her eye for several moments. When they passed the entrance to the avenue, however, someone else got her attention: a fairly tall male in an urban camouflage hat, with a cardboard box under each arm. "Oh no," she mumbled, pressing her nose to the glass. "Ohhhhhh no." Rattled again, she stepped back and yanked the curtains shut. Her first instinct was to inform Cinder, but she _had_ said to do nothing. She wasn't sure how literally to take the order.

And given what had just happened, Emerald didn't feel like going out on anymore limbs. "It's not guaranteed to be him, right? Lots of people have hats like that." She chanced another peek out the window. His headgear stuck out like a sore thumb, so he was easy to find. "Nope, definitely him," she muttered, noting how much darker his left arm was than his right. "Okay. Okay. No need to panic. If Cinder wants nothing, that's what she'll get." Emerald settled on her own bed and laid back. "Nothing," she affirmed, looking for something interesting on the ceiling to stare at. Mere moments went by before her thoughts became too anxious to ignore. "Wonder what he's doing here," she mumbled nervously. Emerald knew better than to defy Cinder and start snooping, but there was _one_ thing she could do. She snatched the Scroll off her nightstand and opened it to send a message.

* * *

Emerald wasn't the only one being troubled by Opher. Despite it being a day off, Pyrrha had spent a great deal of it in Beacon's expansive library. On the table were several thick volumes in a neat stack, waiting to be read once she'd finished off the one in front of her. The rest of her team was nowhere to be found. "There must be something in here," she mumbled lowly, flipping a yellowed page.

A moving tower of books lumbered past and grabbed her attention. At its base was Yang Xiao Long, who wasn't even breaking a sweat with the effort. "Hey, Pyrrha!" she said with a wave, her load shifting dangerously in the process. "Whoops."

"Hello again!" She watched the mighty blonde toddle out of sight before returning to her reading. So lost was she in her search that when Yang returned and pulled up a chair on the other side of the table, it took her several seconds to notice and look up again.

"Yo," she said with a toothy smile. "Where's the rest of the circus?"

Pyrrha chuckled faintly. "Still at the dorms. I'm just here to do a little research while I have the chance."

"Neat." Yang continued to sit there and watch, her purple eyes betraying how unsatisfied she was with the explanation. "Wanna talk about it?"

"There's… nothing to talk about. I'm just studying," Pyrrha replied, her eyebrows raised slightly.

Yang leaned back in her chair and put her boots on the table. "Hey, I found something you're _not_ good at: lying."

"Am I that obvious?" Pyrrha tapped at her bronze crown with a sigh. "I think I might have made a mistake yesterday and I'm not sure how to fix it. Or if I should even try."

"Huh." A thoughtful Yang sat up straight and rubbed her chin. "You talked to Jaune about it? I'm sure he could give you some advice." They shared a knowing stare. "I don't even know why I said that, I'm sorry."

Pyrrha shook her criticism off and smiled. "Oh, he's… a good listener. Anyway, I couldn't. He was there when it happened. I don't want to drag him any further into this than I already have."

"Why am I not surprised?" She stopped chuckling in the face of the redhead's quizzical stare. "Never mind. If you don't wanna talk to him, try Nora—wait, she never shuts up. What about Ren—wait, he never says anything, does he?"

Despite her best effort not to show it, Pyrrha had gotten a little tired of Yang's attempt to be helpful. "It's my problem," she stated flatly. "I'll deal with it."

Yang hunched over, eyes hidden behind her right hand. "Oh my god, you're turning into Blake." She dropped her arm to gaze sternly. "Look, talk to _somebody._ Your team, someone else's team, the professors, whoever. Hey, talk to me! People _love_ talking to me." A grin abruptly appeared. "The boys, anyway."

Tight-lipped and silent, Pyrrha tried to ignore Yang's smiling patience. Her holdout lasted only a minute or two. With a sigh and a sideways glance, Pyrrha yielded as much for Yang's benefit as her own. "Do you know that little Dust shop on the south side of the shopping district? It's not too far from the river."

She blinked at the question. "You're gonna have to be more specific. There's like, seventeen of those."

Pyrrha scratched at her hair and leaned back. "Ah… it's very small. I can't quite remember the name… something to do with gems..."

"Ooo, Diamond Dust!" she blurted out, clapping her hands once. "I buy cartridges there 'cause they're so cheap. Their catchphrase is…" Seized by a fit of chuckles, Yang had to pause until they passed. "Never mind, but man, people call _me_ corny? I love the owner. She's hilarious."

"Well, her employee didn't seem funny to me," the redhead said lowly, her arms crossed.

Her head tilted for a moment. "Huh? Ohhhhh, you met the guy she hired a couple of weeks back. Yeah, I'm not sure what I think about him yet either."

"You've seen him before!" Pyrrha sat up rigidly and looked at her with desperate curiosity. "Have you talked to him?"

Yang offered a half-shrug. "Small talk. You know, 'hey,' 'how's it going,' 'stop trying to deadlift the display cases.' Why?"

"I felt his Aura by accident yesterday. It rattled me so badly, I… might have gone back to Vale to ask him questions I shouldn't have asked." She looked up at a silent Yang and scowled. "He's been in fights. I saw it in his eyes. And that Aura… it was unlike anything I've ever detected before. Not even Jaune's was so strange."

"Wow. I forgot you could actually do Aura stuff." Pyrrha's vaguely annoyed look made her smile and wince. "My bad." She put her arms behind her head and slumped back. "Okay, so the guy's seen his share of battles. Who hasn't? The world's a pretty nasty place."

"It's more than that. I can't figure out why it's bothering me so much." Her head dipped slightly. "Maybe I don't feel like I apologized enough for the way I acted."

"Ah, don't get so down. There are worse traits to have." Yang stood up and stretched obnoxiously. "If it were me, though, I'd leave it alone. Could be that you opened some old wounds for the guy. I know I'd be pretty annoyed if some random girl dragged up bad memories."

Pyrrha digested this advice in silence. After a moment, she admitted defeat with a sigh and a smile. "Fair point. Thank you, Yang."

"Always glad to help. I better get back before… huh." Yang gazed off down the carpeted pathway, tracking someone Pyrrha couldn't see as they came closer. "Oh, hey, Opher. What's up?" Pyrrha rose as well, putting on a friendly face in preparation to greet whomever the blonde was addressing. When she added, "We were just talkin' about you!" however, the redhead's heart flew into her throat.

"I don't even want to know. I'm just here to drop off a shipment for Indy," he said, indicating the boxes under his arms. He glanced over at Pyrrha and blinked. "Oh, it's you again."

"Iiiiiii'm gonna let you two work this out," Yang said, pointing at both as she backed away with an awkward smirk. "Later, Pyrrha! Later…" she trailed off, bursting into peals of laughter. "Oh god, I wanna call you Gopher _so_ bad."

"Never gets old for you, does it?" He squinted at her as she ran off, snickering all the way. "It must be nice to have such a simple sense of humor."

"I—I, ah, I..." Pyrrha's mind groped for the right thing to say, for _anything_ to say, and failed her miserably. All she could do was regard him with wide-eyed nervousness.

Fortunately, Opher didn't leave her hanging for too long. "I'm not still mad at you, if that's what you're stuttering about," he said with a faint smile.

Pyrrha placed a hand on her chest and sighed. "Oh. Oh, thank goodness. Ah… I've been doing some Aura research," she said, motioning at the books on her table. "Yours is really something. Have you ever had anyone else examine it?"

"I think you mentioned that already, and no. Absolutely not." He stared off into space for a second before returning to reality. "Anyway, I gotta go. Indy says she's paying me overtime for this, which translates into 'hurry up before I fire your ass.' Later."

"But-" Too late. Opher was already well on his way. Pyrrha lacked the will to chase him down a second time. "No, no," she commanded herself. "Leave him be." As he walked, she couldn't help but superimpose the awful gray thing she'd seen against his retreating form. The picture made her tremble and turn away.

As he approached the desk at the far end of the building, Opher wondered if keeping her in the dark about his subsequent visitors was a good idea. "Eh, she has enough to worry about," he finally decided. "I mean, she does attend Beacon." Now that he'd said the name out loud, Opher was forced to admit his own nervousness about being here with a low grumble through gnashed teeth. The whole campus made him uneasy; especially the central tower and its glowing orbs, just visible at the tops of the library windows. They were like giant unblinking eyes upon him. Opher glanced at them with a shudder. "I hate this place."

His opinion of the Academy slipped out just as he walked past Cinder, holed up between two bookshelves and pretending to read. Thanks to Emerald's warning, she had the chance to find him and watch his movements, including his chat with Pyrrha. "Hate is a strong word," she whispered to herself after making sure he was out of earshot. "You might not be Pyrrha's friend, but perhaps you might get along with us."

* * *

The rest of Opher's delivery run went without interruption or incident. An hour's passage saw him walking back through the door of Diamond Dust, where a particularly grumpy-looking Indigo manned the counter. "Holy shit, where have you been?" she demanded sourly.

He strode toward her, grinning at her disdain. "I had to pass an ID check on the way in because _someone_ forgot to add me to the merchant's whitelist. Security must be so tight because of the festival."

His explanation did nothing to quell her annoyance. "Whatever, new guy. You got my money?" Indigo yelped with surprise when he chucked a Lien card at her and walked into the backroom. "Get back here! You've gotta take over the register!"

"Good god, Indy, can I put my hat away?" In the middle of doing so he began to wonder about her heightened level of abrasiveness. "If anyone should be mad about being here, it's me. Isn't this my day off?" he added, hoping she'd take the bait and give him some idea of her troubles.

It worked; her angry tone had abated immensely the next time she spoke. "It's not that, it's just… uh…" She poked her head into the back just as Opher was preparing to come out. "We're getting a shipment in this evening. I'm worried that Torchwick asshole is gonna steal it before it gets here. We need this supply bad."

"Why didn't you just say something?" he asked, tousling her hair on his way back to the counter. "I'd be worried too."

Indigo pursed her lips and smacked him on the back as he went past. "Stop being so nice."

Opher grinned at her and settled in at the counter. "Someone has to be the good cop in this relationship, Indy. Oh, do you need anyone to help you unload the stuff?"

"Maybe," she admitted, pouting even harder.

He couldn't look at her without a wry smile, so he decided to turn away and let her have some peace. "Then you can buy me something to eat when we're done."

Indigo rolled her ochre eyes and went into the back. "Yeah. Fine. Thanks."

Not five minutes after Opher sat down, a customer arrived. The most striking thing about this young, brown-haired girl was the red and white bandanna covering the top of her head. Like many of the people who walked in, she seemed perturbed by the lack of merchandise.

Indigo, still in the back, heard the door chime. "Did you say the catchphrase?" she yelled. "I didn't hear it."

The girl was understandably confused. Opher just shrugged at her and said lowly, "Don't mind us. Go ahead." He then turned around to shout back. "I'm not saying that stupid catchphrase!"

"I pay you, new guy! Say the damn catchphrase!"

Her demand was so loud and vicious that their potential customer jumped with terror. "It's fine," Opher assured her again. "Also, please forgive me for what I'm about to say." He cleared his throat and sighed. "Welcome to Diamond Dust, where all that glitters… is our outrageously low prices."

"Good boy," Indigo praised. The young girl just stared at the open backroom door.

"Ignore her," Opher encouraged. "Or, you know, _try_ to. She is pretty loud."

"Okay…" she said, adjusting her bandanna and looking at the shelves. "Where's all your stuff?"

He looked at the empty shelves and shrugged. "We're waiting on a shipment. It might be a good idea to come back tomorrow. We should be fully stocked then."

"Oh." With a reluctant look, she began to back away toward the front door. "I think… I'll just do that."

Indigo walked up beside Opher just as the young girl left the shop. "Great, your stupid tattoos scared her off," she said, hands on her hips.

"I think your catchphrase scared her off," he countered with a glare. "It probably scarred her for life, too." They locked horns in a silent staring contest. With each passing moment, their eyes got narrower until the squinting made Opher blink and avert his gaze. "Ow. I can't do that for that long."

"I couldn't even see you at the end there." Indigo rubbed her face, grinning with victory. "Okay, okay, I'll try to behave. I don't wanna piss you off and end up unloading this shipment by my-" The sound of gently squealing brakes made her lose her train of thought; a box truck had come to a halt in front of the store. "My Dust!" she squeaked, hurling herself over the counter. "Opher, come on!"

"Yes, Indy," he replied with a smile, but what she'd said made him freeze with surprise. "Did you just call me by name?"

Unloading the cargo was one matter, but sorting it was another. The sun was long gone by the time Indigo decided what Dust products should go where. The largest crystals and most volatile powders went into the heavy steel safe in the back room. Meanwhile, Opher tried to evenly distribute different elements on the shelves. "I think we've got too much wind!" he called toward the back. His response was a few seconds of high-pitched laughter. "What?"

"Sorry," she said after a brief silence. "Got wind. Fart joke."

Opher stared at the doorway with disbelief. "No wonder you and Yang get along so well."

A few minutes later, Indigo wandered into the main area and shut the back room door behind her. "I'm too sleepy to care about this anymore. I can finish making things pretty in the morning."

"If you're tired, go home. I'll finish and lock up," he said, not even looking up from the box of Dust vials at his feet.

"Are you sucking up to me?"

Her question finally made him glance over. "I never leave a job unfinished."

Indigo blinked at the seriousness of his tone. "Uh… okay. Whatever." she reached into one of the hip pockets on her khaki dress and produced a set of keys. "Catch!"

He easily snatched them out of the air. "Right. Am I going to get overtime for today _and_ Sunday if I stay past midnight?" Instead of answering him, Indigo growled all the way to the front door. "Aw. I love you too," he chirped mockingly.

She was halfway out before stopping to sneer at him. "Don't break my store, new guy."

"I'd never. Now get." Once she departed, Opher put on the light frown he usually wore and looked at the mess he'd volunteered to clean up. Boxes of Dust were scattered all over the slate-colored carpet. "I have made an error," he sighed. "Oh well. It's not like I don't have time to kill."

He tackled the task one shelf at a time, starting from the back and working forward. The harsh white light that came from the ceiling glared off every Dust crystal he handled, hurting his eyes; he eventually got tired enough of the effect to turn off the shop lights and work in the dark. Thanks to the crystals' faint glows, he had a rainbow-colored view of their elemental distribution. "Huh. We really do have too much wind." In fact, by his estimation, over half the crystals on the shelves glowed green. " _Way_ too much wind."

The quiet brought on by his pause to think let Opher hear a noise from the back room. As he walked closer to the door, it became clearer as a rhythmic, metallic tapping. When he gently opened the door and looked in, there were two shadowy forms crouched by the safe, lit only by a flashlight the smaller of the two thieves was holding. Neither of them realized they'd been made until Opher turned on the light. "Oh. White Fang," he said, noting first their animal ears and masks, then their white and black uniforms. As the large man drew blades and prepared to strike, Opher raised an arm and sniffed under it.

This threw off his assailant just enough to make him ask, "What are you doing?"

"I must be emitting a pheromone that attracts criminals," Opher stated lowly. "That's the only explanation I have for today." He looked past him at the other thief, a shorter girl with a single short sword in her grip. "You're going to kill me for my Dust now, I assume? Well, come on. I don't have all night."

The man smiled at his words. "Bold statement for a shopkeeper." With a roar, he lunged forward and unleashed slashes in quick succession, all of which were gently pushed aside by an inexplicable breeze. "Wh-what…"

Now it was Opher doing the smiling. "No, no, keep trying," he said when his attacker backed away. "This is funny."

And the thief obliged, charging him with renewed fury and a flurry of downward strikes. When Opher sidestepped his advance, he turned to try again, only for Opher to put a hand on his face.

"I can't _believe_ you kept trying." He punctuated his statement by unleashing a torrent of electricity. Jerking and screaming every time one of the yellow bolts arced over his body, the thief dropped his weapons and tried to detach himself from Opher's hand. The voltage was too high; it grabbed him and held tight until, finally, he went limp and dropped in a heap to the floor. His exposed flesh sizzled with the ferocity of the discharge. "I guess I killed you hard enough," Opher said with a sniff of the air.

A muffled clang on the floor behind him reminded Opher of the other thief. She was tucked into a corner, curled up with only her back visible. "Pl-please don't hurt me," she begged, looking up when his shadow fell upon her.

Her familiar voice made Opher tilt his head. "Hold on… take off your mask." She didn't, but she did raise it up enough for him to see her face. "Bandanna girl. You were casing the store, weren't you?"

"They made me do it!" she cried, ducking her head again and waiting for the pain to come.

It never did. Opher stood there and watched her with arms folded. "I'm not going to hurt you. There's no point. Get up."

While she did manage to get to her feet after a few moments, her fear did not fade. The young girl stared at her dead partner. "We failed. They're gonna kill me if I go back," she said, her lynx ears folded against her head.

"Then don't go back." Opher glanced over his shoulder at the corpse and frowned. "I don't care where you go, but you can't stay here." He pointed at the rear exit door. "Go. Get."

Which she did, after some confused staring, leaving her sword behind. Opher picked it up, as well as the other thief's daggers, and set them on a shelf. "I could cremate the body," he thought out loud. "But then the place would smell like literal death." There was another option relatively close by, however: the river. That seemed like the better choice. "Nah, you're going for a swim." Once he'd donned his hat, Opher picked up the body and headed out into the night, whistling a cheerful little tune.

* * *

Despite a warehouse full of gray cases stacked to the ceiling, each loaded with Dust, all Roman Torchwick cared about was what was missing. He stood by the smallest stack in the lot, taking stock of the night's haul. "One, two, three," he counted slowly, using Melodic Cudgel to point, "four… where is five?" He looked around with exasperation. "Where is five?" he demanded again, startling a White Fang member on patrol. She had no answers either, which left a frustrated Roman to stare at the ceiling. "There are times when I remember how incompetent Junior's boys were and I all can think is 'those were the good old days.'"

His tirade had attracted attention; a deeply annoyed-looking Emerald sauntered around a stack of cases and into view. "What are you whining about now, Torchwick?"

"I am simply _wondering_ where some of my Dust has gone," he replied, motioning at the incomplete collection. "The White Fang promised me five cases tonight, yet I only have four. Pardon me for being a little testy."

"When aren't you testy?" she countered with a deeply amused smile.

But Roman knew just what weakness to exploit to get his way: Emerald's relationship with the woman in charge. "Sass me all you want, but I'm sure Cinder won't be happy to hear about any _delays_."

Given the lecture she'd sat through that morning, Emerald decided that safe was better than sorry. Even if it meant losing to him. After one more glare, she produced her Scroll and swiped her finger across the screen a few times. "Fine. I'll see who hasn't checked in."

"Aren't you a dear."

She fired a growl his way and looked at her list. "The team we sent to Diamond Dust still hasn't reported in. Weird."

This revelation only made Roman more unhappy. "Oh, so we're having problems robbing the shop that is literally no bigger than my living room. Of course we are," he grumbled, swinging his weapon in a wide arc to let off a bit of steam.

Emerald was confused enough to look over at him. "I didn't know you had a house."

He peered at her from under the brim of his bowler. "I was being facetious, sweetheart."

"Sweetheart? Don't make me puke." Before they could really get into it, the sounds of a scuffle reached their ears. "You hear that?" she mumbled while drawing her revolvers.

"I do." But Roman saw no need to be covert. "Hello? No fighting in the warehouse!" he yelled. "If one of those powder cases explodes, you can kiss six city blocks goodbye!"

Emerald rolled her eyes and went to investigate the source of the racket. She eventually found two guards dragging a young girl through the forest of containers. Oddly enough, their prisoner wore the same uniform they did. "What's going on?"

"A runner," one of the guards said. "Caught her in the industrial district."

"Is that-" Her train of thought was derailed when she saw the girl's lynx ears. "Hold on, we sent you to rob that store. Where's your partner?"

"The huntsman killed him!" she shrieked, fighting to get out of the guards' arms.

Emerald holstered her weapons and blinked. "The… I'm confused. What did they look like?"

"T-tall guy… brown hair. Lots of tattoos on his left arm."

Her description caused Emerald's blood to turn to ice. "Are you _sure_?"

"Yes!" the girl cried. "He used lightning or something. I thought h-he was gonna kill me too."

An uneasy Emerald waved at the guards and started to walk. "Get her out of here. Shoot her, whatever. I don't care." After finding an empty corner, she pulled out her Scroll again. It was late; late enough that Cinder might be just as angry about getting woken up as about the reason for the call. Emerald dialed the number anyway.

Cinder answered after four rings. "I cannot imagine why you'd be calling me at this hour," she said, her voice still imposing despite its groggy undertone.

Emerald stilled her nerves with a deep breath. "Uh, ma'am, that _guy_ just took out one of the White Fang we sent on a Dust run." Cinder remained silent for several moments. "Ma'am?"

Her answer, when it finally arrived, was curt. "Don't bother me about the cannon fodder, Emerald," she said, and hung up.

"Never mind me," Emerald murmured as she stared at the screen. "I guess we're just letting this guy kill our people now."


	3. Chapter 3

When Indigo arrived the following morning, she found her shop in pristine condition. A faint, unidentifiable scent hung in the air, one she found to be a bit stronger in the back room. It somehow reminded her of meat. Perhaps, she thought, Opher had pulled an all-nighter and had something to eat while he worked. Then she noticed scuffs and marks on the safe, mostly clustered around the dial. On closer inspection, she realized they looked like tool gouges. "The hell?" she blurted out, her bag dropping to the floor. "Did someone try to crack my safe?"

Obviously, yes, but she realized there was something more important to think about: where had Opher been during all this? Given the state of the main floor, he must have stayed most of the night. "Oh boy." She produced her Scroll and swallowed hard. "Oh boy."

It seemed to take ages for him to answer her call. "You do know I was joking about working today, right?" he asked between yawns.

"Forget that!" she snapped anxiously. "The safe! What happened?"

"Oh. Two idiots tried to rob me last night. They ran when they noticed the store wasn't empty. Don't worry. I caught them before they could take anything," he explained, tacking on another brief yawn to the end.

Indigo couldn't believe how nonchalant he sounded. "What about _you_?"

"Huh? I'm fine. Why?" A beat passed before Opher understood her tone. "I didn't get hurt. I told you, these guys were amateurs."

"You don't give much of a damn about yourself, do you? Confronting robbers when you're not even armed? Don't be dumb." Indigo opened the safe and peered inside. Every crystal she'd put in there yesterday was still present. She sighed with relief. "So, did you call the cops?"

"They're busy enough with Torchwick. Two morons that can't check whether a store is empty before they rob it probably wouldn't be too high on their to-do lists," he quipped sleepily.

"Yeah, well. Next time… don't be a hero, new guy." As she walked through the main area, Indigo noticed a few crystals were missing; five in total, one from each of the elements she kept in stock. "Some of the little crystals are gone. Why?"

"I bought a few things. Money's in the register."

Indigo stopped in her tracks and blinked. "What the hell would _you_ do with Dust?"

"I like looking at it. It's pretty," he replied. Another yawn chased his words.

" _What_?" Her face screwed up with disbelief. "You're weird. That stuff's dangerous."

"I'll be careful, mom. May I go back to sleep now?"

His humor fell on unappreciative ears. "Yeah. Fine. See you tomorrow, new guy," she said lowly. She dropped her Scroll into her shirt pocket and gave her store another look over. "I wonder how long he stayed." Long enough to unpack all the Dust and then clean up the boxes afterward. It must have been hours. Indigo pursed her lips as she sat down behind the counter. "I guess I really do owe him a meal now."

Time began to slip away as she waited for customers. Given the early hour, she didn't expect much traffic. When the door opened after only twenty minutes of her playing with her Scroll, she glanced up with surprise. "Welcome to Diamond Dust!" she greeted, although the awful state of the customer made her omit the rest of the phrase. "Wow, Yang. You look terrible."

Yang groaned her agreement and shuffled over to the nearest shelf, leaning on it for support. "Didn't get much sleep last night," she whined with a pat at her blonde locks. "Hrng. Weiss wanted someone to get some powder 'cause," she paused here to raise the pitch of her voice, "'I'm too busy studying to go out!' She's kinda whiny this morning." The minor rush of displeasure seemed to help her wake up. "Anyway, I'm running low on ammo so I volunteered."

"I think I've got some of your shells in the-" Indigo fell silent for a moment, her face screwed up. "-back."

"What was that look for?" Yang asked as she approached the counter with long strides.

Indigo tapped a finger against the glass countertop. "Someone tried to rob the shop last night, but Opher chased them away."

"What?" Yang was fully alert now. "Really?"

"Yeah. I can't believe it either." She disappeared into the back room for a moment to search for Yang's ammunition. "I've only got two boxes left. You want them both?" she called out.

For the first time today, she felt like wearing her usual grin. "Yeah, sure. After all, this is Weiss' money, not mine." After a glance around, she added, "Oh, and give me every kind of elemental powder you've got. I dunno how much she wants."

It took a few moments, but Indigo soon returned with two steel boxes in her hands. "If she doesn't mind filling her own vials, you can grab some of the bags over there."

Yang walked over to do just that. "Yeah, no. She's filling her own vials. So, he didn't get himself hurt, did he?"

Indigo shrugged lightly as she started ringing up the sale. "He said nothing happened, so I guess not." The more she thought, the more questions she had; foremost amongst these was the nature of that odd smell in the back room. "I guess it was gonna happen to me sometime."

"Hey, at least the store wasn't empty," Yang pointed out, her arms full of bagged-up Dust as she strode back to the counter. She watched Indigo work, tapping a fingernail on the counter as the register emitted a few cheerful noises. When the considerable finally tally popped up on the screen, she produced two Lien cards and dropped them on the counter. "This should cover it. Just keep 'em."

"Weiss is gonna be mad at you," Indigo warned, although she pocketed the cards anyway.

"Pff, please. Ice Queen's got nobody but herself to blame for this one." Yang snapped her hand up with a grin. "Later, Indy!" She wandered out into the stuffy morning. There was so much Dust in her arms that she wondered if the White Fang would try to rob _her_ next. At first, the idea made her smile. Then she started to connect what Pyrrha had said yesterday to Indigo's story and frowned. "Why would the White Fang run from a shopkeeper?" she whispered to herself. "Was he in on it?" There was one way to get a better idea of where he stood: talk to the man himself. She didn't know his number or where he lived, though, nor anyone else who did.

Or did she? After finding a reasonably empty alley to duck into, Yang shed her cargo and grabbed her Scroll. She tapped Pyrrha's smiling face and waited.

"Y-Yang? Hello. Just a moment… mmm. Is something the matter?" the redhead eventually replied. Her words were slurred with grogginess.

"Yo!" Yang said brightly. She suddenly realized she had _no_ idea how to frame her inquiry without raising every possible red flag. "Sorry about the wake-up call, but I need a favor."

"Of course. What's going on?" Pyrrha asked, sounding more alert.

"Um, well…" Yang stared helplessly into space. There was no other way to tackle this but head-on, so that's what she did. "How long did you tail Opher the other day?"

Pyrrha was in the middle of drinking something when she asked; Yang knew this because she heard her spit it out with surprise. "Wh-what?! What does this have to do with your favor?"

Figuring she owed the redhead some measure of the truth, Yang came right out with it. "There was an attempted robbery at Indy's store last night and I think she's still worried about him. I would have asked her for his address, but, uh…" she went quiet and glanced around in thought for a good way to frame her next words. "Indigo's kinda prickly sometimes. I don't want to push her buttons. I get enough of that from Weiss. Anyway, I just wanna go over there and make sure everything's fine, you know?"

Pyrrha needed another moment to respond. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Give me a second. I didn't know you and Indigo were so close."

"Heh, I've been buying stuff from her since we got to Vale. I told you, her cartridges are the cheapest in town." A few seconds later, her Scroll's mapping app appeared with a red dot to her northeast.

"His apartment building is across the street from that point," Pyrrha said with a sigh. "At least someone's getting use out of this."

Yang picked up the Dust and started off. "Aw, come on. You stalked him for a good cause."

"I stalked him because I couldn't mind my own business," Pyrrha countered, her tone immensely sheepish.

Which didn't faze Yang in the least. "And that's fine too. I mean, you weren't trying to hurt him. Anyway, I need to drop off some shopping for Weiss, then I'll go check up on him. Thanks for the help," she said, and hung up.

* * *

Pyrrha's directions eventually brought Yang to a part of Vale she hadn't visited in ages. While it wasn't the most appealing section of town, it was still better than the neighborhood Junior's club occupied; that area was outwardly sinister. This one was only run down. Once her Scroll chirped to let her know she'd reached the point in question, Yang looked across the street. There was only one apartment block in sight. "Cool. This should be easy." Once inside, she gazed at the register. "His last name is Riese? Huh. Must be from Atlas," she said to herself. "Third floor."

Getting up there and finding the apartment was no problem; Opher answered the door after a moment and stared down at her, his only greeting a confused and vaguely annoyed, "Why are you here?"

"What's up, Gopher?" she asked with a wave, unfazed by his grumpy expression. "Uh, I meant Opher. Totally meant Opher."

He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "No you didn't. I get the feeling this is Indigo's doing."

"Hey, she's worried about you and I'm being nice." Yang finished speaking with an expectant grin. "So, gonna let me in or what?" Not before one more pointed look from Opher; when he stepped aside, she danced past and waited on him to shut the door. The sparseness of his living room made her blink. "Heard you got robbed last night."

"Here we go," he muttered as he walked toward the sofa. "You heard correctly. What about it?"

While Yang was still grinning, the emotion behind her smile had changed. For once, she actually looked a little serious. "Who did it?"

Annoyance yielded to curiosity as he turned to regard her with a flat gaze. "What difference does it make to you?"

"Aw, I'm just lookin' out for your boss, Gopher!" Her face went blank on the last word. "I swear I'm not even meaning to do that, it just keeps happening."

Opher let it slide this time and folded his arms. "The White Fang, if you're curious."

And she was, even moreso now than before. "White Fang… I guess it's official. They've run out of stores to hit." As she walked around in thought, the Dust crystals on Opher's TV stand caught her eye. They were lined up in a neat row; white, red, blue, green and yellow from left to right, all glittering in the light produced by the screen. "Huh."

He stared at her back with a frown. "I bought those, by the way."

"Not saying you didn't," she replied, her hands up slightly. "You ran off the White Fang, huh? Pretty impressive."

"I'm not sure whether you're being condescending or patronizing," Opher grumbled while taking a seat on his sofa.

Yang whirled on him with a gasp. "Neither! I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not… I'm not a hundred percent sure what those words mean."

Opher peered at her for a moment. "I can't say I'm surprised. You never explained what difference it made to you."

She opened her mouth to explain why, only to hear Ruby's voice in her mind. Don't tell anyone, her sister had said repeatedly. It gave her a little pause. "Ah, you know," she shrugged, turning her back on him. "Just…" Words failed her as she had a brief argument with herself. If he were in on the whole thing, telling him about her team's investigation would be a bad idea. Opher's demeanor was only fueling her suspicions. "Indy's kind of a friend of mine. Aren't you worried they might retaliate? I am."

The reaction she got wasn't the one she expected. "Why strike at Indigo? I'm the one who stopped them," Opher postulated with a stare.

His calmness sent a chill up Yang's spine, one she fought with sarcasm. "Whoa, there." she warned caustically. "Tone it down." His expression failed to change. "You're taking this awfully well for a possibly-marked man."

One side of his mouth curled into a smirk; beyond that, he didn't move. "If last night is any indication, I doubt I have much to fear from the White Fang."

Now Yang understood what Pyrrha meant about his gaze. There was a curious gleam in his muted green eyes. She swore it seemed like the idea was _amusing_ to him, not threatening. "All right," she said with a shrug. As she started to move toward the door, she added, "Just be careful." Then her eyes lit up with an idea. "You know what? Here." She deftly tapped her Scroll against his, which was laying on the coffee table. "There we go. If anyone tries something stupid, let me know. I'll bring the girls and we'll make a party out of it."

Opher rose from the couch and stretched. "I will be sure to do that," he said, opening the door as she approached. "Thank you for the visit. It was weird."

"No kidding," she agreed under her breath. "Oh, and go see Indy, would you? I think she's still freaking out about the whole thing. Later, Gopher!" She was barely able to get the words out before he closed the door on her. "My bad! It's like a reflex!" He didn't reply, so she strode away down the corridor. "Not afraid, huh." Her eyes lit up. "I guess he wouldn't be if he really was in on it. Hmm." She continued to struggle with interpreting his gaze all the way down the corridor.

Behind her, Opher quietly peeked out to make sure the blonde was on her way. Once she vanished into the stairwell, he retreated into his apartment and let out a relieved sigh. "I suppose I'll have to check under my bed for Faunus tonight," he said to himself with a cackle. "Whew. I needed a laugh." He considered Yang's visit with a tight-lipped frown, then walked over and plucked his Scroll off the table. Her grinning image was at the top of his contact list. "Huh. If those two idiots show up again, maybe I can get _her_ to fight them instead. That would be fun."

While the possibility did make him chuckle, Opher couldn't hold on to his amusement. He peered out the window at a gorgeous Vale day and decided he'd been cooped up long enough. After getting dressed and dropping his gold coin into his pocket, he picked up the wind Dust crystal on his way to the door. "Most important meal of the day and all," he mumbled, and swallowed the stone with a loud gulp. The pain of the rock traveling down his throat froze him briefly. "I knew taking this thing straight was a bad idea," he complained with a few rubs of his neck. A few seconds' passage helped the sting fade. "Maybe I should go to the store while I'm out. Grab some butter or something." He glanced down at the screen of his Scroll again. "And talk to Indigo, I guess."

* * *

A pungent odor let Emerald know Mercury was coming; it wafted through their open dorm room door and stabbed at her nostrils. "Ugh!" she groaned as he walked in with white bags in his arms. "What is _with_ the food in this kingdom?"

Mercury set a bag beside her, then placed one on the single bed against the wall. The third he kept for himself. "What's the matter? Too spicy for you?"

"I like spicy when it's done _right_. This is not right." She peered into her bag and reached for the cup resting at the bottom. "At least they know how to make iced coffee."

As they busied themselves with their meals, Cinder emerged from the bathroom. "I was beginning to wonder if you got lost," she said, eying Mercury on her way across the room. "Shut the door. We have business to discuss."

Despite just getting the wrapper off her burrito, Emerald volunteered. "I got it," she said.

"Oh, I know what this is about." Mercury cracked his knuckles with glee. "What are we gonna do to him?"

"Two lost Faunus is not a reason to go to war," Cinder stated between gentle breaths on her piping hot tea. "If the White Fang have a problem with it, they will bring it up to Roman." She paused for a sip. "He knows your faces. Leave him alone. He _cannot_ connect us to anything."

Mercury's face softened with disappointment. "Ah, man. I gotta get back at this guy."

"Hey, let's go try again anyway. Maybe I'll get to see him take you down this time," Emerald teased with a grin. His subtle snarl only widened her smile.

Cinder sipped at her tea, then crushed Emerald's banter. "No. We have wasted enough time. I expect you two to be on your best behavior for the next seven days."

She nodded once. "Yes ma'am."

"'Yes ma'am'," Mercury mocked her under his breath. "So, what? We do nothing?"

"We have no need to do anything," she replied, eying him coolly. "There is enough Dust in storage now for us to proceed." Cinder picked up her Scroll, opened it, and swiped across the screen. "If you want a better reason, look at this. Tell me what you see."

"Huh?" Mercury got up and came over. "What?" On the device was a picture of Opher and a small amount of other information, including details of the Atlesian passport from which the image came. "His name is _Opher_. You've got to be kidding me."

"I spent some time last night contacting a few associates about our dear Mister Riese. What you see is what I found. The entirety of what I found." Cinder snapped the device closed and set it aside. "I have no interest in fighting a ghost."

Mercury wandered back toward his bed as he digested what he'd seen. "That passport looked doctored. How could he not have any family?"

"I heard Atlesian special operations does that for soldiers they send abroad," Emerald said around a mouthful of food. The weight of her words hit a moment later; she considered her encounter with Opher and how much worse it could have gone if that were the case. "Wait, if he's… he could've vaporized us."

"Now you understand." Cinder took a dainty bite out of her pancake, and did not speak again until her mouth was clear. "This man is too much of a mystery for my tastes, whether or not we share a hatred."

Mercury had become grumpy. He folded his arms and stared off. "I still want to kick his ass."

"Of course you do." Cinder looked down as her Scroll emitted a chirp. "Roman," she said, peering at the screen. "He's going to show off a Paladin-290 to a White Fang meeting tonight and wants to know if we'd like to attend."

A beaming Emerald raised her hand. "I'm in. I want to see him kill himself trying to pilot the thing."

"Yeah, I'm with her," Mercury agreed with a nod.

Cinder cracked a tiny grin and started typing a message. "You two will be busy at the transmit tower, I'm afraid."

Mercury tilted his head. "Dry run for next weekend?"

"Not exactly." She finished her message and closed her Scroll. "I will explain this evening. Until then, I leave you to your own devices." Cinder picked up her bag and Scroll and strode toward the door. Before putting her fingers on the handle, she turned on her subordinates with a fearsome gaze. "Do _not_ make me regret allowing you free time."

"O-of course not, ma'am," Emerald stammered, her body stiff with fear. When Mercury said nothing, she smacked him on the arm.

"Got it. I'll be a good boy," he finally added.

As always, when Cinder left, the air rushed back into the room. Emerald took a breath and let her muscles relax. "This guy… you think he's a soldier?" she asked Mercury.

He was eating; unlike Cinder, he felt no need for tact and answered with his mouth full. "What's his problem with the Academies, then? Did he get kicked out?"

Emerald's face screwed up at his lack of decorum. "I'm not sure." Subconsciously, she rubbed her shoulder blades. "If he was, I don't think it was for lack of skill."

Mercury had a hand on his temple as he remembered his own beating. "Can't say I don't agree there. Eh. Anyway, whole afternoon to ourselves. What should we do?"

"I'm going to the range." Emerald reached around her back and drew her revolvers.

He crossed his arms and pretended to pout at her. "Hey, what about me… _partner_?"

Emerald didn't even bother to look. She was too focused on examining her weapons. "I don't care. There must be something around here you can kick."

"That's not a bad idea," he admitted with a tilt of his head. "Maybe I can find a sparring partner."

"Uh huh. Well, have fun beating up kids." Emerald departed the room on purposeful strides. As she got outside, her eyes went to a throng of people entering the courtyard from the avenue area. A parked airship in the distance gave her an idea where they'd come from. Among their number was Yang, whom she afforded a brief glance on the way by.

* * *

When the blonde made it back to her team's dorm room, the door was already open. "I'm back!" she greeted loudly.

The only other person present was Weiss Schnee, seated on her bed and glaring. "Explain this, please," she demanded coolly, pointing at the bags Yang left behind earlier. "Where did you go? I've never heard of that store."

All Yang could do was stare blankly. "I obviously went shopping. Like you asked me to."

Weiss tone started to rise with displeasure. "I specifically told you to make sure the powder was high quality!"

Yang's brain detected this and activated its automatic Schnee defense measures: nodding and smiling. "Uh huh."

"That's not an explanation!" the heiress snapped angrily.

"Wow. How long have you been in here waiting so you could yell at me?" she countered, crossing her arms.

Her icy eyes narrowed to slits. "I just returned from the library, thank you."

Yang shrugged and moved away from the doorway. "Come on, Dust is Dust," she stated, plucking her ammunition boxes from one of the bags on the floor. Her face went blank when she realized the can of worms she'd just opened. "I mean-"

Weiss stood up with a dramatic gasp, her fists clenched at her sides. "How _could_ you?! I can't load low-grade material into Myrtenaster! It's going to clog up the flow ports! Leave residue in the-"

"Oh my god," Yang muttered, hiding her eyes with one hand.

"-dispersion tips! What if it backfires on me in combat? You cheaped out after I gave you all that money?" Weiss finally concluded. Her hands came to rest on her hips. "Well? Where's my change?"

All Yang could do was look at her. "It's... I don't know how to answer this without you yelling at me again."

Weiss' jaw dropped wide open. "You spent _all_ of it? On what?" She knelt down and pulled a container from one of bags. "This cheap-" The Schnee Dust Company emblem on the package caused her to fall silent. Another bag had the same emblem; in fact, every item she looked at, save for Yang's steel boxes, bore the logo of her family's company. "Oh. I see." Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. "Ahem. Never mind."

"You're welcome!" Yang replied with a wink. "Where's everyone else?"

"Your sister went to eat. Blake is still in the library," she replied as she sorted the Dust powder. "Oh, and Ruby wants us all to be here at noon for our…" she trailed off, peering cautiously at the open door, "... _mission_ briefing."

"Got it," Yang confirmed, pointing a finger at her. "I'm gonna hook up with Ruby. See you later!"

Weiss, her back to the blonde, continued to sort her Dust. "Goodbye. Ah… and thank you for running my errand."

Her lilac eyes lit up like the sun. "Awww, did I finally manage to-"

"Don't you dare," Weiss warned, looking back over her shoulder.

"-break the Weiss?" She stepped backwards out the door with a tremendous grin. "Yeeeeeah. Okay. Later." A few steps into the hall, she admitted to herself, "I'm gonna get stabbed for that, but… worth it." Yang didn't walk much farther before she paused and looked at the closed door across the hall. "Wonder if Pyrrha's around." Her stomach interjected with an obnoxious growl. "Screw it. Food first."

Beacon's expansive mess hall contained only a few others when she arrived; Ruby, thanks to her brilliant red cloak, stuck out like a sore thumb. Her table wasn't empty. All of Team JNPR sat across from her. "Oh! Yang!" Ruby yelled, standing up and waving. "Over here!"

"I see you, little sister," she called back. "I mean, you're kinda hard to miss. I'll be right there, okay?"

"Okay!" Ruby bounced on her seat, smiling gleefully despite the weird expressions on Jaune and Pyrrha's faces.

While they kept their mouths shut, Nora, slumped over on the table with her eyes barely open, did not. "How can you have so much energy?" she droned. "It's so… morning-y…"

Ruby became still and blinked at her. "Is Nora sick?"

"She challenged herself to consume four bags of cheddar-flavored popcorn last night," Ren explained, mostly focused on the book lying in front of him. "Her stomach was the one that lost."

"Please kill me," she wheezed. "I mean, just kill me for a little while. Like, an hour."

"Go take a nap," Ren advised, turning the page.

"I never want to see anyone eat like she did _ever_ again," Pyrrha sighed. She looked up as Yang returned and took a seat to Ruby's left. "So, ah, how was Opher? Did everything turn out all right?" Everyone at the table looked over as Ruby snorted and covered her mouth.

Yang patted her sister on the back a few times. "Opher was weird, that's how Opher was, but yeah. I guess things are cool."

"Who is Opher?" Ruby asked through her fingers. "And why are they named _Opher_?"

"He's, well, an acquaintance?" Pyrrha explained, her eyes darting around awkwardly. "Jaune and I… ran into him the other day."

Her leader finally connected the dots and leaned forward to speak. "No wonder he sounded so mad. Opher? Yeah, that's the kind of name that gets you beat up in school." Jaune suddenly frowned. "Not that I have experience with that sorta thing. I'm just saying."

"I feel like I missed something serious," Ruby said as she let her arms drop back to the table. "Yang, you look freaked out. You _never_ look freaked out."

She silently cursed the ineffectiveness of her fake smile. "Oh, come on. I'm totally-" Pyrrha, arms crossed and wearing a ghostly smirk, killed her statement with a glance. "Are you gonna do to me what I did to you?"

The redhead's smile brightened. "I wouldn't dream of it. I'm just glad someone else noticed it too." Thinking too long about the subject darkened her mood. "Perhaps I should ask Professor Goodwitch about his Aura. I haven't been able to find anything in the books so far."

"Oh, I forgot you could do Aura-" A blank gaze from both Yang and Pyrrha shut Ruby up in a heartbeat. She continued with a nervous chuckle, "Wow, okay, that was unnecessarily harsh. Um, anyway, what was wrong with it?"

"I…" Its twisted image appeared in Pyrrha's mind again, stealing her breath. "There were gaps in it. It looked like a separate entity hugging him, not something emanating from his body. And it was the color of ashes."

"Gotcha." Ruby stared blankly into space. "Which makes it… what? Bad? Awesome?"

"I'm not sure-"

"I can't feel my faaaaace," Nora groaned, cutting Pyrrha's response short.

"Okay, that's it," Jaune blurted out while throwing up his hands. "Someone help me carry her back to our room so she can sleep off her popcorn hangover."

His whole team responded, rising to their feet. The sisters watched them depart with Nora draped over Ren's right shoulder. "I bet I could eat that much popcorn without getting sick," Yang surmised.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Please don't. One blonde puking all over my boots was enough. Ready for tonight?"

Yang's lips curled into a smirk. She twirled her fork and looked over. "I'm always ready, little sister."

"Hee, I can't wait!" But there was a loose end to tie up before Ruby could get fully excited again. "I still don't understand who this Opher-" she had to stop and snicker again, "-sorry, who this guy is."

Yang's voice became dusky and low. "The White Fang tried to rob the Dust store he works at last night. He apparently scared 'em away."

"Whaaa?" She leaned closer and matched her sister's volume. "I didn't think the White Fang was afraid of anybody."

Memories of the way Opher acted during her interrogation made Yang's brow furrow. "Yeah. Either he was in on it, or they never got a _chance_ to run. Maybe we should keep an eye on him either way."


	4. Chapter 4

Opher ended up waiting until that evening to take Yang's advice. Indigo was smack in the middle of closing up when he walked into Diamond Dust.

"Sorry," she called over her shoulder, her attention on locking the back room door. "Closing for the day."

"I guess I'll come back tomorrow then," he said with a grin. "Only if you pay me, though."

"Huh?" Indigo spun to face him. The brown strap he thought was part of the messenger bag she usually wore turned out to be attached to a matte black assault rifle instead. "What are you doing here, new guy?" she asked, a brow raised with surprise.

Opher stared blankly at her weapon. "Uh… Yang dropped by. Said you were still worried about me." He raised a hand to point out the obvious. "Where did you get that and why do you have it?"

"Oh, I've had this old thing. I'm guarding the store tonight. If those bastards try anything again… heh." Indigo patted the barrel of her rifle with a vicious smile. "Lesson one: nobody messes with my Dust."

"I see. First, you're nuts," he began as he walked closer, "second, you are reminding me a _lot_ of my mother right now, and third, I am literally your only employee. Stop calling me 'new guy.'"

"I'll stop calling you new guy when you have more time here than me. Good luck with that shit." She turned back to the door and checked it one more time. "Yang showed up at your place? I didn't know she knew where you lived."

"Neither did-" Opher's eyes got wide. If Indigo herself hadn't sent the blonde to his apartment, who did? His brow furrowed; only one other person in Vale knew where he lived. " _Pyrrha_ ," he whispered. "All that about not making my life harder and you tell Yang where I live?"

"What did you say?" Indigo asked, looking at him strangely.

"Forget it." Opher glanced up at the clock above the door and sighed. "Well, I guess I'll leave you alone. See you tomorrow. Try not to get murdered."

Before he could get out the door, Indigo said, "Wait. I owe you a meal, remember?"

Opher turned around again and adjusted his hat. "Aren't you guarding the store?"

"I doubt anyone would try anything so close to sunset. Still too much light." She grabbed her messenger bag and hung it on her unoccupied shoulder. "Come on. I know a place near the skyway."

"But... oh, fine." He watched her walk toward the door with the rifle still strapped on. "Uh, aren't you going to put that away?"

Indigo became a bit defensive, even clutching her gun protectively. "Why? I've got the permits. Besides, if any potential thieves see me packing this heat, maybe it'll change their minds." Indigo held the door open and motioned out. "Come on. I'm hungry."

Opher stepped onto the sidewalk and waited for her to start walking. He fell in beside her once she did with both hands in his pockets. One was around the gold coin he always carried; the other clutched the Dust crystals from his apartment, which he'd picked up earlier. "You're being suspiciously nice to me."

"You saved my business. What, you want a kick in the nuts instead?" Indigo shifted her bag to ensure everyone would see her weapon. As a result, everyone heading toward them on the sidewalk gave them a wide berth. "I dunno who screwed up the shipment, though. I'll never be able to move that much wind." She began to snicker lowly. "Heh, wi-"

"Yes, yes, wind. Ha." Opher still had trouble resolving such an enormous gun with his boss' dainty frame. "Seriously, where _did_ you get that thing?"

She gave the rifle another pat and grinned. "I was infantry in the Valesian Army. Spent four years outside the wall up near Forever Fall, picking up the Hunters' slack. This is _my_ gun."

Opher's face went blank. "You stole it, didn't you?"

"Hey!" Indigo said, giving him a firm smack across his tattooed arm. "I don't know how you pale bastards in Atlas do it, but around here a soldier goes home with the weapon that helped them survive."

He tilted his head at this and smirked. "Seems like the soldier that comes in behind you would need it more."

Indigo waved off his assertion. "Please, we're swimming in guns. Besides, you almost have to be armed with people like Torchwick running around." She eyed him for a moment, her gaze traveling from head to toe. "We gotta get you a pistol or something."

"Oh, I feel so naked without a firearm," he said with a smile.

Her brow furrowed deeply. "Hey, I'm serious, beanpole. Things are getting stupid. Like whatever happened at the docks a few weeks back. Better to be packing than not, I say."

"Of course you'd say that, you're wearing an _assault_ _rifle_." Opher glanced up at the bottom of the suspension bridge that loomed overhead. "And you're forgetting I wasn't here for the dock… thing."

"Just take my word for it, it was weird." Indigo tugged his sleeve to make him stop walking. "We're here."

Their destination was an out-of-place, squat brick building between two taller, more modern shopfronts. Two neatly trimmed bushes sat below each of its front windows. Indigo led Opher inside; the interior was all rich, dark wood of some variety, with a bar to his right and round tables to his left. Only a half-dozen other patrons were present. "Hey, look!" the black-haired female barkeep yelled. "Indigo brought her baby! I feel safer already."

Opher cast a long look around. "Huh. So this is where you get drunk."

Indigo smacked him on the arm and grinned. "This is where most of my liquor calls home, yeah. Come on, pull up a stool."

He obliged her, but only after another few glances. The barkeep met them with a huge smile. "Heeeeey, Indy. He's cute."

She burst out laughing as she dropped her bag on the floor to shift her weapon to her back. "He might be cute if he weren't so scrawny."

"Whatever. He looks good enough, and you _know_ I'm a sucker for tattoos."

Opher turned his left arm over and eyed the symbols. "I hear so many women say that. What's the big deal? It's just ink."

Schwarze cracked another grin. "Maybe you're a bad boy and you just aren't saying so. I like guys like that." She ignored Indigo's obnoxious snort and pressed on. "Anyway, what'll you have?"

"Coffee. Black." Everyone present besides Opher, including those seated at the tables, gasped with surprise at Indigo's order. She turned just enough to look at them. "Hey, look, I've got work to do tonight, okay? You know Friday's my get hammered day."

"Look at you, all responsible and crap." The barkeep turned her blue eyes to Opher. "How about you, new guy?"

He stared at her for the way she addressed him. "Wow, really?" His attention went to the considerable display of bottles on the shelves behind her. "Uh… oh, that," he decided with a point. "I've had that before."

She reached for it and then for a glass. "Bourbon! Your boy's got good taste, Indy!"

While Opher reacted only by rubbing his eyes with a sigh, Indigo regarded her opinion with a narrowed-eyed glower. "Schwarze, can the running commentary and give us some damn menus." While she stopped talking, Schwarze didn't stop giggling. They could hear her laughs even after she vanished into the kitchen. "So… uh… shit. I suck at small talk."

Opher sipped at his bourbon with a smile. "Join the club."

Her arms crossed as she pouted. "Aw, come on. You've been here almost three weeks and I still know hardly anything about you."

Before answering, he took another sip from his glass. "Seeing as my job interview consisted of the questions 'are you gonna be on time?', 'are you gonna try to rob me?', and 'you ever worked with Dust before?', I didn't think you cared about my background."

"What are you trying to say? I'm an _excellent_ judge of character. I mean, you turned out okay." A grinning Indigo did everything but give herself a literal pat on the back. "Besides, you worked for the Schnee family. I couldn't pass up that kind of experience."

"I worked in a Schnee quarry," he corrected her with a roll of his eyes. "You make it sound like I was their butler."

Schwarze was back with their menus and coffee; Indigo took one of the former and passed the other to Opher. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She scanned the options from top to bottom twice, then added, "You're paying for yours, by the way."

Opher, in the midst of reading his own menu, had to stop and rub one of his temples. "I knew there was a catch."

"Aw, I'm messing with you. What kind of bitch do you think I am?" Indigo snapped her fingers to get Schwarze's attention. "Do you actually know how to _cook_ this fish?"

Her head cocked a little. "Well, nobody's died yet, so…"

"Fair enough. I'll try it."

Opher sighed faintly and closed his menu. "Uh… I'll have the burger with onion rings on it. And a side of onion rings." He met their stares with a stern gaze. "What?"

"Man, you must fucking love onion rings," Indigo muttered. Both of them watched Schwarze dance into the kitchen in silence. "Seriously," she said once the barkeep was gone, "Why don't you talk about yourself?"

"What's there to talk about?" He drained his glass and set it firmly on the bar. "That's enough liquor for one night, I think," he decided, rubbing at his throat. "Phew."

"Ha! What a lightweight!" Indigo would have teased him further if she hadn't realized how he deflected her question. "You've got that 'something happened' look about you, that's why I'm curious."

"Hmm," was Opher's reply.

Indigo shrugged and turned away from him. "You're a tough nut to crack." They stared ahead and let the ambient noise wash over them, at least until Schwarze screamed just before a tremendous clattering of metal rang out. "I honestly don't know how she hasn't burned this place down yet."

"She seems sort of young to own a business." Opher turned his gaze toward Indigo, but his boss wouldn't look at him. "Come to think of it, so do you."

Now his boss was the one looking gloomy. "Yeah. A lot of people lost parents in Mountain Glenn, so… family businesses were forced to change hands." She swished the steaming coffee in her mug and frowned. "Mine got out in time. They were the exception, not the rule."

Opher, despite his unfamiliarity with Vale, knew the event of which she spoke. All of Remnant did. He decided to change the subject slightly. "But you ended up with the shop anyway."

Indigo held her mug with both hands and stared ahead. "Yeah. I think dad wanted to do something else with his life. You know, after almost losing it and everything. So I left the Army and took the place over for him." She blinked a few times and looked over. "How the hell did we end up talking about _me_?"

"Hmm," he said again, smirking to himself. Before the conversation could proceed, Schwarze appeared, balancing two plates of food. Both Opher and Indigo were hungry enough to throw away their chat and focus on their meals for several moments. Opher found himself quite pleased with the food. "You're not bad at this cooking thing."

"Thanks! My mom taught me." Schwarze stared at Indigo, waiting for her opinion on the fish. "Well?"

"What do you know? I'm not dead yet," she replied with a wry smile.

Schwarze narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "Oh, fuck off."

By the time they'd finished eating, night had officially fallen. Indigo got more and more uneasy every time she looked out the windows. "All right, I've been screwing around enough," she muttered, sliding off the stool. "Check please!"

Before Schwarze could tally up the bill, Opher reached under his hat and produced a blue Lien card, which he dropped on the bar. "That should cover it. Keep the change." He stood up and made for the door. "Well, good luck tonight. Unless you want some company."

"Pff, you'd just drive me up the damn wall." Indigo shifted her rifle to her chest, tossed a friendly wave at Schwarze, and followed him outside. "See you when the sun comes up, new guy."

"Yeah, good night." Opher came to a halt and watched her walk away from him. His brow creased in thought. Something Yang mentioned earlier had him thinking; would the White Fang really go after her, and not him? The thought was whisked away by the sounds of traffic on the bridge above. "Nah." He turned around and moved in the opposite direction. At the earliest opportunity, he slipped into an alley and boosted himself to the roof of a building. Remnant's broken moon hung in a black sky full of twinkling diamonds, its destroyed phase in full view. "At least one thing is still the same," he said lowly.

Not knowing what else to do with himself, Opher used his perch to survey the city. Off to the left was the highway that loomed above the pub. It formed a stream of lights that flew through Vale's skyline until winding out of sight behind the smokestacks of the industrial district near the sea. For all the north's technology, there was nothing like it in Atlas; Opher, however, suspected it was for a different reason. Part of him wondered why civil engineers in Vale seemed so bold. And bold was, perhaps, being polite.

He grew bored of the view and started walking along the ledge. Below him, three people walking down the alley caught his eye. The way they moved made Opher suspicious; none of them spoke, either. When they reached a street, the group waited until no cars were in sight before moving across. "Well now, what's this?" he mumbled to himself. With another wind assist, he tossed himself to the roof in front of him and followed. The chase took him on a winding tour of Vale's less-traveled streets; after what must have been an hour of pursuit, the group finally stopped at a t-shaped intersection of alleys. The taller building opposite him had a door at its base with a light above it. A guard was also present. Opher peered down as they spoke to the guard in hushed tones. Eventually, they showed off their ears and horns; the guard nodded, opened the door, and motioned them inside. "Faunus?" Opher breathed, his brow furrowed in confusion. As he watched, a trickle of Faunus of all sorts approached the door. Most, but not all, were allowed inside.

Two arrivals in particular stood out. One had yellow hair and a monkey's tail dangling behind him. His female companion wore a white top with black pants. A weapon was on her back. Both obscured their faces with Grimm masks. Opher slipped back from the ledge and sat up to think. "Isn't this a lot of Faunus for one-" And then it hit him; he'd found something _else_ that he probably shouldn't have. Experience told him to be ready either way; he slipped the Dust crystals from his pocket and swallowed each one, covering his mouth afterward to smother the hisses and grunts of pain. This took a few minutes to accomplish, during which time he'd walked to the other end of the roof to minimize whatever noise he made. Just as he recovered enough to start thinking about how he'd get back home, a window shattered behind him. Two people had jumped from the structure he'd been spying on; he realized after a moment it was the monkey Faunus and his female partner. They vanished, falling to street level. A second later, there was an awful smashing sound. Opher looked back to identify the source of the noise. He found a giant bipedal robot smashing its way through the wall of the warehouse, apparently in pursuit of the two Faunus. "You know what?" he said, staring at the spectacle, "I don't even care. I'm going home."

"Hey, there's another one!"

"Wait, huh?" Opher turned to see several White Fang members looking at him through the broken window. "Oh. Well." Completely stone-faced, he stepped off the roof, used a bit of wind to manage his descent, and walked away. With no Scroll to guide him, he decided to get to the skyway, follow it back to the pub, and get his bearings from there. There was a grin on his face as proceeded. He knew his plan had little chance of succeeding.

Why? Because the White Fang was hot on his heels. He could hear their chase as an echoing series of scuffs and muffled orders that haunted him through the narrow maze of Vale's alleyways. Opher strung them along at street level until he got enough breathing room to boost himself to a roof once again. Half a dozen White Fang dashed by below him, unaware they were being watched. His pursuers foiled for the moment, Opher searched the skyline for the elevated highway that would lead him home. It was snarled in a stacked web of interchanges and indistinguishable from the other bridges above and below it. "Great. Now I really am lost." Lost, but not alone; another White Fang soldier appeared on the other end of the roof he was on. Adrenaline, having stomped out his lethargy, also left him antsy. "Well, you found me," he said as he turned to face the single shadow. "You know, I had nothing to do with…" Trying to decide on a term for the scene left him silent and blank-faced for a time. "...whatever that was back there."

A woman's voice responded. "And I'm supposed to take your word for it?" The blade of her sickle gleamed in the moonlight. "Even if you're telling the truth, don't you think you've found out a little too much about our operation?"

Opher rubbed his eyes with a laugh. "Oh, hey, you're gonna kill me for what I've seen! Haven't heard that excuse in a while. Usually people just want my stuff." His face was suddenly bathed in the harsh glow of a flashlight. "Ow. Thanks for the warning."

"Oh, shut up." She noticed his features and blinked. "Wait a second. Brown hair, tall, tattoo sleeve…"

"Hmm? Have we met?" Opher blinked and stepped back as she charged him with a growl, swinging her weapon from a metal chain in circles over her head. As he began to sidestep, he laid a patch of ice in her path of travel. She slipped with a screech and landed flat on her face. "No, seriously, have we met?" he asked again.

His assailant recovered and launched herself at him. "You're the huntsman that killed my uncle!" she roared, whipping her sickle around in wide, sweeping attacks. Opher retreated deliberately in the face of her assault, ducking under or aside her strikes, until the heel of his sneaker hit the ledge. "W-why couldn't I hit you?" she wondered aloud, although having him cornered made her feel a little less uneasy. "Whatever. I'm gonna enjoy watching you try to fly."

A momentary breeze bent the brim of his hat. "Are you _sure_ I killed him? A lot of people around here seem to have ink," he said with a smile.

"Doesn't matter either way. Like I said, you know a little too much." Her fingers tightly gripped sickle and chain as she walked closer. "Any last words?"

Opher had nothing to say; instead, he smiled, raised his right hand, and enveloped her head with a chunk of ice. "Nah, but I've been dying to make someone's last words _be_ 'any last words'." He watched her claw fruitlessly at the ice and stumble around. Whenever she got too close to falling off the roof, Opher gently tugged her to safety. "Actually, I haven't decided whether or not to kill you yet. I've got about four minutes. So, let's see…" Her muffled screaming was barely audible.

With limited options and air, she dropped to her knees and bashed her skull repeatedly against the roof. Opher had passed his judgment by now and allowed her to do this; eventually, the ice cracked and shattered. "Who… who the fuck are you?" she demanded after a few moments' worth of desperate gasping.

"I'd tell you my name, but you'd probably just make fun of it." On the way toward her, Opher snatched up her discarded weapon. "I'm keeping this, by the way. It's really cool."

"Take it, just please don't-"

He raised a hand to stop her from begging. "Your uncle. Used two daggers, right? Kind of gruff-sounding?" Her nod of confirmation made him sigh. "Okay, I _did_ kill him. What happened to the girl he brought along?"

"M-my cousin?" She stood up on wobbly legs and removed her mask to allow more warm air to wash over her face. Her blue eyes were still wide with terror. "We usually kill deserters, but I managed to convince one of the higher-ups to let her live. Why do you care?"

"Just curious. I've done enough to her, I think." Opher turned his back on her and stared at the highway interchange. "Now I _know_ Vale's engineers are certifiable," he muttered to himself.

But she wasn't done with the conversation. "Wait, why are you letting _me_ live when you killed him?!"

Opher eyed her over his shoulder. "Are you gonna attack me again?" When she shook her head, he put on a frigid smile. "That's why. Your uncle didn't have the sense to realize he was not a threat to me. You do." She continued to stare at him. "Although you are beginning to push your luck. Shoo." He waved her off with a flick of his wrist and turned away. When he sneaked another glance back a few moments later, he found that she had taken his advice and departed. "Good girl."

The distant squealing of car tires stopped him from trying to figure out which road was which again. He pinpointed the noises as coming from somewhere just beyond the interchange; their frequency indicated a tremendous accident was in progress. Then he heard what sounded like gunshots. After a crescendo of crumpling metal, Opher watched as the huge robot from earlier crashed through the glass guardrail of one of the bridges and fell to the ground. He threw up his hands in disgust. "Not this again."

Fortunately, this wasn't his problem to tackle. Four girls arrived on the scene seemingly in an instant, and all of them were armed. One of them looked suspiciously like Yang. That held Opher's curiosity only briefly, however, as he chose to wash his hands of the affair and walk away.

He got about ten steps along before half a dozen White Fang appeared on the other end of the roof. "Hey!" one of them said. "He's got Violet's kama!" The whole group produced bladed weapons of all descriptions, including natural claws, save for the two in the rear. They carried firearms. "What did you do with her?" another one demanded.

"I sure am tired of getting blamed for stuff." Opher glanced down at the sickle and smiled to himself. "Let's see if I remember how to use these pointy little things.

Four charged on him at once; he stopped their advance with a towering wall of fire, only to hurl himself over it a few seconds later. One unprepared girl looked up just in time to take the sickle's blade across her throat. Opher used the attached chain like a leash, wrapping it around her neck to hold her up. The two in the back opened fire, but his dying human shield took their bullets. By now, the other three were on him; their limbs became blurs with each swing, slash, or kick. Opher simply blew himself, first victim still in hand around on a sheet of ice to avoid their attacks. "Come on, now," he taunted with a smile, "you can do better than this."

They certainly kept trying. The two marksmen shifted position endlessly to try and get a bead, but with Opher leading the dance it proved impossible. He no longer wanted a corpse to weigh him down; he lit it on fire and kicked it at the three White Fang still trying to stab him. As they darted away, Opher picked one of them and gave his weapon a wind assist; it flew like a missile, sinking into his side. Despite his roar of agony, he came at Opher with claws flying.

His attack was stopped by a sizzling jolt of electricity, but the momentum carried his limp form right into Opher's waiting arms. With a new human shield, he advanced on the four remaining White Fang, who were now grouped up on the opposite end of the roof. "What?" he asked cheerfully, approaching on slow steps. "Nah, nah, I get it. The looks on your faces say you just bit off more than you can chew." He swung the sickle in circles over his head, pushing it so fast with his wind that it traveled with a shrill whistle. "So, what? We done?"

A few clicks told him otherwise; the marksmen were reloading their guns. Opher looked down and noticed several puddles of water, left over from his icy ballet. With a tilt of his head, he saw the moon's reflection trail off from one pool toward him in a thin line. All of the White Fang were standing in it. He let the sickle drop as they raised their guns again. "I'll answer my own question," he said, pausing to confirm the splash, "yeah. We're done." Yellow bolts coursed from his arm, down the chain, through the blade, and into the water. They arced like hopping rabbits all the way to their victims, locking them silently in place. He waited thirty seconds before unplugging himself and allowing them to drop in heaps. Only the gentle crackling of the body on fire behind him kept the quiet at bay.

"Unnnh…" the sole survivor groaned gently. He grunted again when Opher let him drop. "No, please, no more…" he begged, raising his arm in self-defense.

Opher loomed over him, an angry shadow against the moon's brilliant face. "Oh? Are you _surrendering_?"

He hissed with pain. "Yes. Yes!"

"I see." Opher ended his suffering with an icy lance through the forehead. "Too bad. I'm all out of mercy for the evening." He looked over his shoulder at the interchange. The quiet told him that his wasn't the only battle that had concluded. He eyed the six corpses next and decided to snuff out the one still burning with a stout gust. "Huh. The police should have fun with this." Finally, his gaze settled on the far end of the roof. "Okay, let's try _again_."

He got halfway before a voice rang out from behind and below. "Throw me!" It was Yang; her commanding tenor was unmistakable. Opher stared as she appeared, soaring through the air and landing in a crouch. "Yeah! There's definitely smoke!" she yelled. "It's…" Her voice was stolen by the sight of that smoke's source. "What the…" And then she laid eyes on the other bodies. Ember Celica unfurled completely as she raised her fists, ready to fight. "We got a problem!" It was then that she saw Opher, which caused her arms to drop again.

"Well. Things just got awkward," he admitted, hiding the the bloody weapon behind his back.

For Yang, the situation was difficult to resolve; she looked between him and the corpses several times, her mouth agape. Before she could speak again, a red blur trailing rose petals shot up and landed behind her. It quickly materialized into Ruby. "Yang! Yang, what happened?!" Her confusion about Opher, unlike Yang's, was devoid of worry. "Uh, hi? Who's this?" Seeing the blonde so tense made Ruby just as uneasy. With a flourish, she turned Crescent Rose into its rifle form and aimed at the stranger. "Should I be shooting at him?" Noticing the bodies broke her concentration and caused her to shriek with fright.

Yang placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder to calm her down. Her lilac eyes grew wide with realization. " _You_ did this?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, cracking a smile and turning away. "I'm just a shopkeeper." Weiss and Blake were standing between him and the other end of the roof. "Oh. Terrific."

"What on Remnant?" Weiss breathed, glancing at his victims. She snapped into stance and pointed Myrtenaster at him, ready to strike. "Stop right there."

"Fuck off," he countered over a sudden stiff breeze. "I have work in the morning."

"How _dare_ you address me-" The heiress fell silent as Opher blasted off into the night in a high arc. She lost him against the starry sky in an instant. "-in such a manner? Where did he go?"

Blake took great pains to avoid looking at the bodies as she and Weiss approached their teammates. "What's going on here, Yang? Do you know him?"

"Uh, well…" She rubbed the back of her neck, still dumbstruck. "That, uh… that would be the Opher guy I mentioned earlier."


	5. Chapter 5

Opher couldn't understand why Yang hadn't shown up or called at all, but he was glad she hadn't. With a decent night's sleep between him and the battle, he was beginning to regret the macabre show he'd put on. Maybe that's why no one had gotten in contact with him. They were too afraid. A part of him wanted to call _her_ ; whether it was out of guilt or concern he couldn't decide.

Despite his remorse, one thing stopped him. If he got in touch with Yang, she'd ask awkward questions, and his peace and quiet would go right out the window. If he could reach Diamond Dust without anything stupid happening, then perhaps Indigo's presence would deflect their questions if one of them showed up there.

Unlike his mood, the weather was sunny. Opher threaded his way through the crowd that always filled up the shopping district when the mornings were so nice. Upon arrival, he found Diamond Dust's front door was still locked. Looking through the chromatic glass was useless; both panes were too dark to see through. He decided to go around to the back. The rear door was bracketed by two black flower pots, each bearing a bush with orange roses. A key was hidden behind the left pot. "Indy!" he called while unlocking the door. "Don't shoot!"

No bullets flew, but she didn't respond either. He flipped on the light and blinked at her sleeping form, curled up against the safe. The assault rifle was in her lap. She only awoke after Opher tapped her thigh with his sneaker. "Unh? Who-" With a start, she grabbed her weapon, but didn't get it fully aimed before recognizing him. "Damn, man, you scared the hell out of me. Is it morning already?"

He proceeded ahead into the main area. Once he reached the counter, he manipulated a set of switches to make the windows transparent again. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Smartass." Indigo hopped to her feet and brushed at her clothes. "You wanna mind the store while I go home and shower real quick?"

Opher shrugged his acquiescence as she walked past. "Fine. Bring me back some coffee, would you?"

Indigo paused at the front door to wave and smirk. "Yeah, yeah. Iced, right? God, you're such a pussy."

"Aren't I?" he replied, grinning just as wide. When she left, his good mood departed with her. "Damn it. If I knew things were gonna end up like this, I'd have gone back to Vacuo instead." He rested his chin in one hand and tapped the glass top with the other and weighed his options.

He didn't have much time for this before his Scroll emitted a pleasant chirp. Opher was immensely reluctant to check why, but after a minute of stalling he tugged it from his pocket and slid it open. _New Contact Request_ , the screen said. A silver-eyed girl with reddish black hair smiled brightly at him. "Who the hell is this?" he asked her picture. "Ruby Rose?" Her face seemed vaguely familiar, but that was all. After a moment's thought, he accepted the request and set his Scroll aside to go into the back room, but it started ringing almost instantly.

Upon tapping the screen to answer, Opher heard a surprised, "Oh! Oh crap, he answered. Yang? How do you say his last name? I can't think about his first name without laugh-I mean, never mind. Hello?"

"Hi," he replied, brow furrowed with annoyance. "You're one of Yang's friends from last night, aren't you?"

"She's my sister, actually, but yeah. Seriously, how do you say your last name?"

"It's…" Opher paused to rub his eyes with a sigh. "Like 'rye-see'. Emphasis on the 'rye' part."

"Riese. Got it. Okay. I'm just going to call you Mister Riese for now. Sooo… uh… about the, you know, _thing_."

Now that he knew who she was, Opher expected the worst. He wanted it over with as quickly as possible. "Get on with it," he said evenly. "And if Yang is there, why isn't she the one having this conversation with me?"

"'Cause I made a decision as team leader." Ruby paused to say, off to the side, "Um, I think he wants to talk to you instead."

Opher could barely pick up Yang's reply. "Are you sure?"

"I'll ask." Ruby's voice got clearer again. "Do you want to talk to-"

His patience was beginning to wear thin. "I don't want to talk to _any_ of you, to be entirely honest. Get to the point."

"Wow, okay. Harsh." With a breath, Ruby collected herself and continued. "We do need to talk. In person. You wanna come here, or should we come to you?"

The thought of traveling to Beacon made his eyes narrow. While his reluctance to meet them was great, Opher saw no other way out besides changing kingdoms again, but he'd _just_ gotten finished with that process. Starting over again so soon wasn't an appealing idea. "You can come to me, I guess. When and where?"

"Not until tonight. We've got classes soon."

There was jostling and a grunt from Ruby. "Classes for which we're going to be late if you don't hurry up," another voice said derisively.

Opher blinked at his Scroll. "Who was that?"

"It's just Weiss, ignore-I mean, uh… don't worry about it."

"What do you mean it's _just_ me?!"

"Enough!" a fourth voice said angrily. A few seconds' worth of awkward silence later, she spoke again. "Ten o'clock tonight," she stated firmly. "Name the place."

Ruby didn't appreciate this. "Blake, I'm… I'm in charge. I wanted to say that."

On the other hand, Opher was happy that _someone_ was in command of the situation. "The roof of my apartment building is good enough. Yang knows where it is."

"Fine." Blake hung up, leaving him to stare at the screen.

A few moments later, the door chime rang as Indigo returned. Large paper cups occupied her grip. "Just here to drop off your coffee," she remarked, setting Opher's coffee in front of him and walking away. She expected a reaction she didn't get. "Uh… hello? A 'thank you' would be nice." When she finally looked back at him, his expression stopped her cold. "New guy?"

"I might need tomorrow off," he said quietly, at last putting away his Scroll.

Her head cocked a little. "Why?"

"Well…" A million lies were at Opher's fingertips, but none of them were satisfactory enough for his liking. He frowned at her and picked one anyway. "Family thing. I might actually have to go back to Atlas."

"What?" Indigo put her hand on her hip and stared unhappily. "Why? What happened?"

All he could do was shrug. "Dunno much yet. I'll know more in the morning."

"Shit. I was just starting to like you." To hide the scowl on her face, Indigo turned away. "Whatever. Let me know as soon as you can."

"Yeah." Opher watched her depart in silence. Thoughts of the morning's news darkened his mood even further; he knew, via a press release about the events of last night, that some fairly high-ranking officials were at Beacon. His brow furrowed. If General Ironwood got his hands on him, there was no telling what the Atlesian military would do. Opher had no doubt that he could forcefully extract himself from such a situation, but the toll would be sky high.

And, after all, he wasn't ready to go to war with an entire kingdom. Especially not the one that was, more or less, his home.

* * *

A thankfully uneventful shift went by, though the specter of his possible departure had cast a pall over both Opher and Indigo's day. She continued to hide her displeasure with complaints about the financial aspects of the situation. "If you leave, how the hell am I supposed to get your last paycheck to Atlas?" she wondered out loud. "Can you transmit stuff like that over the CCT network?"

Opher plucked his hat off the rack and put it on. "Maybe you could just pay me for the week right now?"

His reply was a peal of laughter, followed by a hearty, "Yeah, no. Screw you."

"Oh? I thought I was too scrawny for that."

"You bastard!" she snapped, taking a half-mocking swing at him. After her punch missed, they stared at each other for a while. "Good luck with… whatever's going on." With a huff, she crossed her arms. "Since you were so forthcoming and all."

"Sorry. You know what I know." On the way to the back door, Opher put the Lien in his pocket under his hat. "See you tomorrow, maybe."

The evening was muggier than usual, at least in his brief experience with Vale's weather. Before he could retreat to the cool, dark confines of his apartment, however, there was an errand he needed to run. He picked a Dust shop at random and purchased a crystal of each element, though this store lacked white stones. Instead he settled for the glowing orange of lava, pocketed his purchase, and started for home. Clouds towered over the western horizon, choking out most of the sunset. They matched the gloom in his eyes. Once he'd departed the shopping district and the crowd thinned, Opher allowed himself to think out loud. "Wonder if it's just gonna be Yang and company." That was one thing that had spurred him to buy extra Dust: a possible conflict. It had been a long time since he'd been forced to fight a Huntsman of any caliber. Even if Yang and her team were simply in training, the prospect made his brow furrow.

Getting home was the easy part; now he had hours to kill before the meeting. Some of this time was spent arranging his new collection of Dust in the same way as the previous set. More still went toward a shower and dinner. Only an hour and a half was gone by the end of his usual evening chores. He could always run. Back to Atlas. Back to the Schnee quarry, where anonymity was as easy to find as the precious crystals.

Spread out before his mind's eye was the frigid gray landscape that dominated most of Mantle, but his view was not of sparkling, modern Atlas. Nor was it the frigid pit from which the Schnee family excavated their fortune. This, instead, was a valley between mountains on which his heart was set, a bowl-shaped dent with a small clump of humble structures. His home, or what shadowy memories of it still remained. They grew foggier and more distant with every sunrise. Thinking on this too long only put Opher in a foul mood. Sudden knocking at his door broke the miserable reverie.

Behind it when he answered stood Indigo. The muzzle of her rifle peeked over her right shoulder. "You know," she began, shifting her weight to one hip. "Something's bothering me."

Opher cocked a brow, but did not step aside to let her in. "Okay. What?"

She pushed past anyway. "I dunno if I buy your story." The Dust crystals lined up on the TV stand got her attention. "Huh… I don't carry cuts like that. Where'd you get those?"

The TV was off just as soon as Opher could produce his Scroll, drawing all the focus his way. "What about my story do you not buy?" he asked, walking away from her.

Indigo tracked his retreat all the way to the sofa. "When you said I reminded you of your mom, that was the first I'd ever heard you talk about your family. People have reasons for that shit, man. What happened? Why do they suddenly want back into your life?"

There were no words at hand for Opher to fill the gaping chasm of his lie, so he stalled for time. "Your guess is as good as mine." He watched her eyes grow ever narrower. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Then Indigo folded her arms and said, "I'm not stupid, Opher. You're in trouble with whoever tried to rob me the other day."

It was as if she'd tossed him a rope to climb out from the hole. While her assertion wasn't directly correct, it was safe to assume that the White Fang wouldn't be happy with him killing six more of their members. Depending on whether or not they had caught and interrogated Violet as they did her cousin, he _could_ be in serious trouble. Unbelievably, this was a better proposition to him than dealing with any sort of Academy-related entity. "Well…" he mumbled awkwardly, laying it on thick to enhance his cover.

Indigo wouldn't let him finish; with one fluid motion, she had her rifle in hand. "You expecting a visitor tonight? I bet this would surprise 'em."

As hilarious as Indigo and Yang fighting each other would be, Opher shook his head at her suggestion. "No. They're not mad at you. They're mad at me."

"So I was right! I knew it." Indigo was agitated enough to bare teeth as she paced. "Don't worry. I'll save you. Been too long since I shot at something that wasn't a paper target, you know."

"Indigo…" Opher rubbed his face with one hand and groaned. Then his eyes lit up with an idea. "I already have help on the way."

"Huh?" Indigo turned and lowered her weapon. Disappointment was written on her face. "Seriously? Who?"

Here was a chance to insert some of the truth, so Opher took it. "Yang."

Her face went blank. "The hell. Yang? Are you yanking my chain, new guy?"

"I'm not, no. She heard about it during her, uh, visit. And if I understand your stories correctly, she never passes up a chance for a fight." Opher's eyes wandered to the single window in the living room. "I guess she thinks she's defending our honor or something."

"Huh." Once again, Indigo shifted her rifle to her back. "Damn it, I was so hyped up for this, too."

Feeling good enough to smile and stand, Opher came over and gave her a pat on the head. "Sorry to burst your bubble. The next time I'm in trouble, I'll come to you first."

"Awwwww." With shoulders slumped, a frowning Indigo walked back to the door. "You still want the time off, or what?"

He nodded at her. "I'd better take it. I don't know how much of a mess I'll have to clean up tomorrow."

"Fiiiiiiine." She pushed open the door with a sigh. "See you Wednesday, I guess."

Opher moved over to see her out. "Sorry, Indy. Guard the shop again, maybe you can shoot someone there?"

"Then I'd have to call the cops to come clean it up. Ugh." Indigo threw up her hand in a wave and walked down the hall. "Later."

"Bye." Opher retreated into his apartment and quietly shut the door. "Phew. That could have gotten stupid." He reminded himself of the situation and glowered into the darkness. "I mean, even more stupid than it already is."

* * *

For the second time in as many days, team RWBY was preparing for a nocturnal adventure. Unlike last night, however, they somehow knew both more and less about their target at the same time. Ruby was still grilling her sister for more information about Opher even as they prepared to leave. "How can you not know anything else?" she demanded nasally. "You've known him for two weeks! That's like an eternity for you."

Yang kept her focus on loading Ember Celica. "Sis, 'know' is kind of a strong word. I couldn't even tell you where he's from. Guy just doesn't talk much. Not to me, anyway."

An exhausted-looking Blake, seated on her bed, had been ready to leave for half an hour. She somehow maintained a patient facade. "Perhaps we should speak with his employer."

The blonde made a face at her suggestion. "Indy? Oh, man, I don't wanna drag her into this. We don't know how bad it is."

Ruby swallowed with her recollection of the gory scene. "He set one of them on fire, impaled another, and electrocuted the rest. It's pretty bad."

Weiss kept her own disgust tamped down, though a frown slipped through her defenses. "Whatever happens, we need to know where he stands. If he has this large of an issue with the White Fang, he might be an ally."

"Ally? I don't _want_ friends like him."

Blake's venomous tone caused all three girls to stop cold and glance over. "Fair enough," Ruby replied with an uncertain smile. "He does seem kinda scary. But his name is so silly. Opher. Pff." It wasn't quite as funny as it used to be, as evidenced by her forced chuckle. The stony silence from her team caused her to wince. "Yeah. I'm not feeling it-" Ruby noticed their attention was on something behind her. "What?"

She turned to see a confused Pyrrha standing in their doorway. "I… ah, am I interrupting? Jaune wanted to know if..." she trailed off, blinking at their weapons. "Is something going on?" And then her brain processed the bulk of Ruby's statement. "Did you say Opher?"

"What? Naaaaah," Ruby assured her anxiously, with a wave tacked on for good measure. "We were just talking about the gophers! In the big garden out back. You know. The dumb things keep digging up the flowers."

Her explanation didn't hold water; all four of them were armed to the teeth and still fully dressed, despite it being night. Pyrrha took a few steps into the room and stood with her arms folded. "What's this about?" she asked, her tone somewhere between terrified and stern.

Weiss looked at her teammates for guidance. "Should we tell her?"

"I don't think we've got a choice now." Yang decided she had to be the one and stepped forward. "So, uh, something… _happened_ last night."

"What?" Yang wouldn't explain further; she just stared at the redhead with an awkward smile. With every passing second, the horror in Pyrrha's eyes grew. It soon reached critical mass. "Give me a moment."

Yang reached out a hand as the redhead darted from the room. "No, Pyrrha! Wait a sec-" She was already gone. "Great. Let's just go before she gets back."

"That's a little cold, don't you think?" Weiss cocked a brow at their expressions. "Did I accidentally say a pun again?"

"I'm kind of with her," Ruby added, hopping from foot to foot. "I'm nervous enough. Let's _do_ th-" Pyrrha reappeared in the doorway, fully outfitted for combat. "H-how did you change clothes so fast?!"

"Ah, well…" Pyrrha raised a hand. The black glow of her Semblance flickered to life around her fingers. "Practice and magnetite stitches," she explained with a weak chuckle. "Lead the way."

Yang slapped her forehead. "You don't even know what's going on!"

All Pyrrha could do was look off to the side and shrug. "True, but something tells me it's my fault."

The blonde's eyes narrowed faintly. "You _always_ think that."

Once again, it was Blake who got things moving. "It's possible we might need the help. Someone can _actually_ explain on the way," she stated, slipping past Pyrrha and walking out. The rest of her team was forced to follow; Pyrrha herself brought up the rear. "We should cut through the CCT park."

Ruby dashed out front to lead the charge. "Right! Let's do that. But let's do that because I said to and I'm the leader. We're going through the CCT park!"

"Uh huh. Great idea, little sister." Yang dropped back to walk with Pyrrha. "Okay. Here's the short version. Be warned, it's not pretty."

* * *

Mercury had lost count of the times he'd reached the very cusp of sleep, but as with each instance before, a sharp elbow from Emerald yanked him away. "Please stop," he complained, rubbing at his tired eyes.

She elbowed him again. "You're supposed to be taking notes."

The pair were lying prone on a rooftop near the enormous transmit tower, and had been for over an hour. This was their second night of casing the area's security for Cinder. Emerald, looking through a pair of binoculars, was taking the job seriously enough for the both of them. "There go those two soldiers again," she noted. A glance down at her watch added more information. "Their patrol takes ten minutes."

"Ten minutes. Got it." Mercury scrawled this down on the notepad in front of him. The stillness beside him made him look over. "I wrote it down. Don't jab me."

"About time… wait." Emerald tracked five silhouettes along a pathway. When the glow of a street lamp revealed their identities, she raised up with surprise. "Uh oh."

"What?" Mercury watched her sit up fully and put a hand to the side of her head. " _What_?"

She placed a finger on his lips for silence. "Ma'am, team RWBY is leaving campus again. Pyrrha Nikos is with them, and they're in a _hurry_."

A moment passed before Cinder's voice filled their ears. "Pyrrha too? I dare not think about what they're going to break this time. I'm certainly not in the mood to hear Roman whine for an hour about dead Faunus and lost Paladins. Follow them and report. Mercury, return at your earliest opportunity."

He frowned at her order. "Why does _she_ get to chase them?"

Her tone was suddenly displeased. "Because I trained her for these things, that's why."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm on my way." Emerald stuck her tongue out at Mercury before beginning her pursuit. Once off the roof, she dashed from object to object, toeing the line between keeping sight of her targets and staying out of theirs.

The chase proceeded off the cliffs along a sloping, dimly lit stone pathway. Eventually, they reached the top of Vale's wall, where the road became a coiled ramp that descended into the streets of the city below. Emerald had a harder time keeping track of them until she took to the rooftops. Twenty minutes of leaping from building to building proved to be a decent workout; by the time they stopped running and entered a building, Emerald was a bit out of breath. When she consulted her Scroll for a location, her eyes widened; there was already a map marker here. "Hold on, isn't this-"

Her eyes locked onto something on a roof across the street. A humanoid shadow, illuminated by the moon and clearly wearing some kind of hat. A look through her binoculars confirmed it; this was Opher, wandering idly as he looked at his Scroll. It was the light from its screen which allowed her to identify his face. A few moments later, he was joined on the roof by RWBY and Pyrrha. Emerald instinctively ducked out of sight behind an HVAC unit and placed a call to Cinder using her own Scroll. "Ma'am… I found out where they were headed."

"I'm waiting," she replied evenly.

Emerald shot a nervous glance over her shoulder. "They're meeting with our ghost. I can't eavesdrop without getting too close. I'm afraid he might spot me. What should I do?"

"A most… interesting turn of events. Return to our quarters. I need to think about our next move."

"Got it. I'm coming home." Before she left, Emerald lingered just long enough to watch their meeting commence and wonder what they could possibly be talking about.

Had she been close enough to hear, Emerald's answer would have been nothing. Each side regarded the other with uneasy silence; this sizing-up took several seconds before Opher opened the proceedings with a glare at Pyrrha. "You again. Why?"

Yang's explanation left her wide-eyed and worried. She frantically tried to voice her concerns. "I overheard your name and insisted on coming. I thought something had happened and it was my fault. I'm… sorry."

Ruby stared at her blankly. "Why do you say that so much?" she muttered.

The blonde herself still held out hope that someone else was responsible. "It wasn't _really_ you, right? I mean, yeah, you flew away, but…" Her words melted into an unsure chuckle.

For a moment, Opher played along sarcastically. "Of course not. I'm just a shopkeeper." Then his jaw set and his eyes filled with the gleam that Pyrrha and Yang found so unsettling. "I see you came prepared. I guess I'd be afraid of me too."

"Nobody here is afraid of you," Weiss shot back. She glanced over at a nervous, hopping Ruby and glowered. "Stop that. Stand firm."

"Can't," her leader said brightly. "Too many cookies. So much sugar. Never going to sleep again."

Opher blinked at Ruby, then Yang. "Cute. You two are sisters? Which one is adopted?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Oh, wow, haha. Haven't heard _that_ joke a million times already. Look, who are you, really? What's your deal with the White Fang?"

He didn't answer her at first; instead, his eyes went to a tense, silent Blake. She averted her gaze, so his went back to Yang. "They kind of keep robbing and/or trying to kill me. Maybe that's a question you should ask them."

"Have you fought them before?" Ruby asked, still jumping from foot to foot. "I mean, maybe they've got a grudge you don't know about."

He prefaced his answer with a shrug. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised. I was attacked. I defended myself. That happens to me a _lot_."

Weiss jumped in before Ruby could say anything else. "Have you crossed paths with Roman Torchwick, by any chance? He and the White Fang seem to be working together."

"I haven't, no." The question made Opher curious. "Why? Did you come here to ask me for help?"

Yang rocked back and forth on her heels with a smile. "Hey, you've got skills. And it would kinda be nice to have someone on watch in the city all the time. We can only get out of Beacon at night. Or on weekends."

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Blake hissed lowly. She spun on her heel and walked toward the far end of the roof.

"Ah, excuse me?" Everyone looked toward Pyrrha, who had her hand raised. "If you all wanted help, why didn't you come to us? Jaune would have been happy to assist." She sneaked in a pointed glance at Weiss, too quick for the heiress to notice.

"We didn't want to get you guys involved," Ruby explained. "It's pretty dangerous. I mean, Yang had to punch a giant robot in the… face, I guess?"

"Which was freakin' _amazing_!" Yang added as she threw her fist cheerfully into the air.

They were giggling at each other, but Ruby had just backed herself into a corner. A grinning Opher sprung his trap. "Oh, so it's too dangerous for her, but you have no problem asking _me_ to throw myself to the Beowolves. And we just met."

With hands waving frantically, she tried to clarify her statement. "Wait, no, that's not-I mean… oh boy. I wouldn't ask-" This situation required a silver tongue that Ruby lacked; she cast a helpless gaze at Weiss. "Uh, Weiss? You're smart, please help me with words."

She obliged, her reply soaked with a proper, polite tone and a little too much charm. "What Ruby is trying to say is we assumed a few things about your relationship with the White Fang. They were apparently incorrect." A chilly gaze at her leader and Yang helped drive the point home.

"That's not helping!" Ruby exclaimed with horror.

The whole exchange was funny enough to make Opher snicker. "Assuming? Yeah, that happens to me a lot too. Okay, fine. You thought you had a lead but you didn't. Mistakes happen. As long as you're not gonna try and arrest me or anything, let's just move on."

Ruby stroked her chin as she considered his last statement. "Um… shouldn't we, though? You did kind of murder six people. That's a pretty arrestable offense. Is arrestable a word?" Her face went blank. "Arrestable…" A stiff poke from Yang snapped her out of it. "Ow!"

"I don't think we have that kind of authority. We're not even full-fledged Huntresses, much less police." Pyrrha looked back at Blake, who stood some distance away now, with a frown. "Is she all right?"

Yang cast a glance that way as well. "She's tired. And stubborn. Anyway, Ruby's got a point. You did kill those guys."

"In self-defense, yes." Opher's eyes darted between the four girls. "Are you really considering trying to bring me in?"

Ruby shrugged at him and smiled weirdly. "I don't really know. There _are_ five of us and only one of you. We could totally do it." A burst of laughter from Opher was the thing that finally got her to stand still. "What's… why is that funny?

"I'm sorry," he said between breaths, using a hand to wave his chuckles away. "Just some deja vu. Anyway, if we're done here-"

"We're not," Weiss interjected. "How did you get away last night? People can't fly." Once more, she looked over at Ruby and Yang. "Unless they make a lot of noise and expend a lot of ammunition."

"You're just jealous 'cause my fists go boom," Yang replied with a smirk.

Opher rolled his eyes at the blonde. "Dust. I'm sure you can do the same thing. I see the vials in that sword."

"Yeah, but you just _did_ it. Weiss needs glyphs. How did you…?" Ruby trailed off as she began comparing his escape to another incident: her fight against Roman's female associate with Glynda Goodwitch. "Hold on, do you have Dust woven into your clothes or something?"

"Seriously?" He looked down at his t-shirt and cargo pants and blinked. "Does it look like I do?"

Yang tapped her chin in thought. "They'd glow. Hey, do something fancy."

Whether or not it met Yang's criteria for fanciness aside, Opher snapped the fingers on his left hand and caused a flame to hover above the tip of his index finger. It danced gently in the mild breeze. His clothes, however, did nothing. "Satisfied?"

"Certainly no Dust in his outfit," Weiss noted quietly.

"What about your tattoos?"

At first, Pyrrha's question seemed like an obvious answer, but Ruby was quick to shoot her down. "They didn't glow either." She glanced over as Blake returned. "Feeling better?"

Her answer was as blunt as it was flat. "No. What's he doing?"

"Just a little Dust work." Opher blew out the flame and watched a wisp of smoke curl away.

"I don't understand," Pyrrha admitted, her brow furrowed in thought. "Where are the crystals or powder you're using?"

Her confusion was amusing enough to make him smile."I've got the Dust, you just can't see it. So, are we done?"

"For now," Ruby said, her eyes narrowed in an attempt to look serious. Yang snorted at her expression. "I still don't know what to do about you being all… murdery."

Both his hands went up slightly as he said, "I'm not gonna kill anyone that doesn't earn it."

"Oh, that's really reassuring. Just _try_ not to commit any more murders for now, huh? Vale's got enough to worry about." Yang furled up Ember Celica and waved to her teammates. "Let's roll!"

Blake and Pyrrha lagged behind, the former walking right up to Opher with a vicious glare. "Did they really earn it?" she asked lowly.

Instead of meeting her question head on, Opher used a realization to knock her down a few pegs. "I don't know what you think you're hiding with that bow." It worked to perfection; Blake stepped back with shock. "I knew you looked familiar. I saw you going into that building last night. Cat ears, right?"

Flustered and tired, Blake decided to end the conversation and walk away. "If we have to come out here again because of you, I'll…"

Opher watched her until she got to the roof access door. "Hey," he said, making her turn around. "Yeah, I've killed a lot of people. And Faunus. But you know what? I've spared even more. If you still think I'm a threat, well, you know where to find me." All she did was stare at him for a moment, then depart.

Pyrrha, however, remained behind. "I was right," she said quietly. "You've seen much bloodshed."

"Yeah. I have." Opher pushed up his hat to eye the moon. "I find it interesting that you were worried enough about me to make the trip."

This made her her laugh a bit. "I worry about everyone, all the time. Or so Nora says." Quickly, her face became grave. "Your Aura-"

A growling Opher cut her off before she could tread on this subject again. "Haven't we been over this enough?" he asked firmly. "Yes, it's different. It's the only one of its kind, just like everyone else's."

For once, Pyrrha met someone's ferocity with a fraction of her own. "No, it's _not_." As if to prove it to herself again, she shed one of her gloves and took him by the hand. The ashen ghost flared up around Opher's frame in her other sight, twisting around his chest like a snake. The longer she stared at it, the more it squirmed and changed shape. Soon, it became humanoid, a shadow standing at once behind and in front of him. "It's… what is it doing?" she whispered, unable to tear her eyes away.

Opher broke her grip and stepped back. "Leave me alone, already."

"I'm…" She wasn't sorry, really, and didn't bother finishing the sentence as she slipped her glove back on. "Your Aura is unique. It may be dangerous."

"Oh, wow. That only applies to about 50% of the population," Opher fired back, clearly becoming fed up with her.

She stood her ground, staring at him with stern eyes. "I'm sorry, but between your Aura and what you've done, I cannot ignore this any longer. I'm going to Professor Goodwitch in the morning." Before he could explode at her, Pyrrha leaped from the roof to catch up with RWBY.

Opher walked to the ledge where she'd jumped and looked down, fists clenched with rage. He couldn't spot them anywhere on the streets. It seemed his nightmare was on the cusp of coming true. "And sometimes," he growled lowly, "I spare people I _shouldn't_." The broken moon above attracted his attention while he dealt with his emotions. "You know what?" he said lowly to it, "I think I'm done running, anyway."


	6. Chapter 6

Pyrrha bade a sleepy goodbye to RWBY and knocked gently on her dorm room door. Jaune answered it. She'd expected him to wait up for her, but when she looked into the room she saw Nora and Ren still awake as well. Their gesture threw her off a little. "I hope you didn't stay up on my account," she said, trying awkwardly to smile. "I said I'd be right back." A quick glance at Nora's tacky pink beckoning-cat alarm clock told her she'd failed miserably. "Oh. I was gone a little longer than I thought."

"Yeah! Yeah, you were," Jaune agreed with a frown. He tossed the redhead her Scroll. "Did you forget this, or did you just not want us to know where you were going?"

"No! I just couldn't find it and I was in a bit of a hurry." The redhead swallowed with anxiety. She'd kept her exchange with Opher from RWBY for the whole trip back. After a moment of introspection, she realized she didn't have the willpower to do the same to her own teammates. "Let me explain…"

"Oooo, story time!" Nora chirped happily. "I'll get the popcorn!"

" _No!"_ shouted the other three team members in perfect unison _._

Once Jaune composed himself, he added, "Nora, no. Sit."

And so she did, hands on her knees and staring at him alertly.

"Good girl," he finished, nodding when she obeyed. His attention returned to the redhead. "Soooo, Pyrrha. This should be good. You guys beat up somebody? Hey, did we miss another giant robot?"

Pyrrha didn't know, how on Remnant she would be able ease her friends into this, but she chose to start very slowly. "Certainly not, we just, ah… we met a friend of Yang's for a chat, that's all." Now they were all staring her down, not with malice, but simply as they waited for more details. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. "It was… just…" Jaune's concerned expression was what made Pyrrha crack. "It was Opher."

Jaune scratched his head in confusion. "I didn't know he knew Yang. Wait, wait, when you say 'friend', do you mean, like, informant? Like that Junior guy?"

Her mind struggled for a better explanation. "No, no. He works for a friend of hers. Someone tried to rob their store recently and Yang wanted to ask him a few questions."

"Like what?" a bouncing Nora asked.

"Oh… ah…" She drew a blank in the process of struggling a lie and just smiled. The absence of truth would have to do. "That's their business. They spoke, then he and I spoke, and that was all," Pyrrha tried another awkward smile, one she was sure was even more obviously fake than the first.

Nora unwittingly hammered her conscience. "So it was just you and him, huh? What d'ya talk about this time? Did you see his _super-weird Aura_?" she asked, adding a faux-spooky warble to her last words.

A part of Pyrrha regretted being so forthcoming originally. Now she was properly stuck. "I…" she started, but trailed off. Withholding the whole truth from RWBY was one thing; lying to her teammates' faces was another. Such a thing was beyond her. "Some members of the White Fang attacked Opher last night. Six of them. He fought and killed every single one." She sat rigidly on her bed and let the news sink in.

"He's on our side then, right?" Jaune sought confirmation first from Ren, who only shrugged, then Nora, who was now too uncertain with the shift in tone to react to his staring. "Right?" he finally asked Pyrrha.

"I'm not sure he _has_ a side, Jaune. From what he said, I gathered that he's been killing for a long time." And she'd told him her intentions, knowing full well how agitated simply being _followed_ had made him during their first encounter. "What have I done?" she asked herself, head hung in shame.

Jaune ducked his own head to look at her face. "I dunno, what did you do?" The bitter worry in her eyes erased his smile. "Okay, bad time for a joke. What else happened?"

The redhead's shoulders slumped even more. "I told Opher I was going to speak with Professor Goodwitch about the, ah, situation tomorrow."

Since Jaune's only memory of Opher was their initial meeting, he asked the obvious question: "Didn't he get really mad just 'cause we fo-"

Pyrrha's hand snapped up to silence him, since she really didn't need his reinforcement of the fact. " _Yes_ , Jaune."

Ren managed to find the tact his leader could not. "You're afraid he might come after us?" he asked gently.

"I don't know." She glanced over at a conspicuously quiet Nora. "And yes, I did see his Aura again. The longer I gazed upon it, the stranger it became." There was no suppressing the shudder that came next. "It was like a detached shadow."

While she nodded once at this, it was the prospect of a potential battle that really snapped Nora out of her fog. "I'll grab Magnhild and we'll wreck this guy!" she exclaimed, hopping off the bed with a grin. "Unless he doesn't show up. That would suck. Hey, let's go after _him_!"

"No!" both Ren and Pyrrha shouted, the latter standing up so she could stop Nora from getting to the door. "This is my fault," she added. "I'll keep watch for a while since I already have Miló and Akoúo̱ on hand."

"Aw, but I wanna help," Nora complained, crossing her arms.

"I know, but-" Jaune's sudden appearance by her side derailed her train of thought. "What are you-" Before she knew it, Ren was there too. "Now wait just a moment!" A giggling Nora completed the quartet. "No! This is my-"

"We'll hang out with you until the coast is clear," Jaune advised with a broad smile. He gave Pyrrha a hearty pat on the back.

"If you gotta problem with one of us, you gotta problem with _all_ of us!" Nora cheered with both arms in the air. "Woo! Team JNPR! High-five!" No one would give her one, so she clapped her hands. "Woooo."

There was no way she'd convince them otherwise, so Pyrrha relented with a sigh and a smile. "Thank you, everyone. I'm happy to have friends like you." Except that thought made her wonder if she'd thrown her _other_ friends under the bus by not telling them. "I wonder if I should tell Ruby?" Her expression slipped back toward shame. "I called them on hiding things from me, then I did the exact same thing. I'm such a hypocrite."

Jaune dismissed her concerns with a wave. "Ah, we've got this. Four of us, one of that guy. No problem." His face softened when Pyrrha frowned at him. "But, uh, Nora? Maybe you should go get Magnhild just in case."

* * *

JNPR wasn't the only one preparing for battle, though their potential adversary had no intention to chase Pyrrha down. Opher prowled anxiously around his darkened apartment, kicking himself for not taking care of the redhead when he wasn't busy checking for intruders. What had stopped him? Was it her fame? Killing a bunch of masked Faunus terrorists was one thing, but people knew Pyrrha's face. The investigation would have been extremely difficult to work around.

"I couldn't have stayed here," he finally admitted under his breath. "Mistral would tear this kingdom apart looking for her killer."

Logically, then, he had no choice. Especially not with Jaune's presence; he'd have the blood of two Beacon students on his hands. Killing them would have brought down the wrath of the Academy too. Letting her go was the smoothest solution to a rough problem. As Opher peered through the peephole in his front door, he dismissed these sensibilities as a lie. "No, it was…" He lit a flame in his left hand and used its flickering glow to peer at his forearm. With his other index finger, he picked out a row of the symbols and read them silently. "She looked so much like you, Carmine. I got sentimental. Just like with Indigo."

The implications were a kick to the gut. Most of the people he'd loved had been relegated to subconscious tugs instead of full memories; the ghostly visages of others, however, still haunted him after all this time. Opher doubled over slightly and sighed. The adrenaline couldn't sustain him forever, but it chose now to start letting him down. A brief spurt of fear took its place. "I'm not gonna be some scientist's prized specimen," he muttered, wiping his eyes.

But not with physical hands. He'd been agitated long enough for the gray ghost within to manifest. It wafted off his skin like waves of smoke. Some of it took the form of fingers that drew themselves along his cheeks and took his tears away. Opher didn't even react to the display at first, though eventually a smile forced itself onto his face. "Yeah. I'm stuck with us, I know."

The whispered call of sleep bombarded him from every direction. He shuffled away from the door and toward his sofa; a nap wouldn't kill him. He was out the second his head came to rest, trading the darkness of night for the deeper void of unconsciousness.

* * *

When his eyes flickered open again, sunlight greeted them. Opher rose with a start, almost falling over himself in the process. "Gah! It's-" The time didn't matter. What counted was his surroundings; no one had come for him. Instead of relief, however, Opher was only suspicious. He grabbed his Scroll to check the hour, then put it in his pocket. It was half-past eight in the morning. While it was too early to declare victory, at least he now had a full night's sleep. Grumbling, he wandered into the kitchen to find something to eat. As Opher rummaged in the fridge, his Scroll started to ring. "Huh?"

This wasn't Indigo, nor Ruby, nor Yang calling. The strange number had no picture accompanying it. He chose to ignore the call and keep scrounging. A minute later, his Scroll rang again. The same number was on its screen. "No," he growled, shoving it back into his pocket. Once the ringing stopped, his Scroll remained silent. Opher let out a long breath and tried to calm his nerves. With a cold slice of leftover pizza in hand, he went back into the living room and prepared to heat it with a Dust-powered flame. This process was stopped before it began by knocking at his door. Exasperated, Opher inhaled the chilly slice and walked to the door. Through the peephole he saw a tall young woman with a black beret and dark sunglasses. She appeared to be frowning at a Scroll in her left hand. "I know I heard ringing in there," she said. "Let's just bust down the door."

"We're supposed to approach this carefully," another girl answered. Opher couldn't see this one. "Keep knocking, I guess?"

After a moment's hesitation, Opher threw open the door and barged into their conversation. "I think I know what this is about." He looked to the left and discovered a much shorter Faunus with long, brown bunny ears and even longer brown hair. "Wow, you must catch hell for those."

"You have no idea," she groaned with a roll of her eyes. "My name is Velvet. This is my team leader, Coco. We're from Beacon Academy." Her head tilted at Opher's exaggerated sigh.

Meanwhile, Coco lowered her sunglasses and examined him. "Lotta fuss for a skinny guy like you. Nice effort on the cargo pants, though." She glanced over at Velvet, who shook her head, and decided to forego any further commentary with a shrug.

However, she'd already managed to push Opher's buttons. Fists clenched, he grinned and replied, "Oh, were you looking for a fight? Let's go up to the roof, then. There's not enough room in this hallway for me to embarrass you."

"Wow!" she exclaimed, unable to stop herself from laughing at his audacity. "Don't make me break you, little man."

"Little man?" Opher glanced down at her shoes with a smirk. "Take off those heels, then look up at me and try that line again, honey."

"Okay!" Velvet snapped, slipping between them with her hands raised. "Can we just go, please? Miss Goodwitch is waiting for us."

Opher was in no hurry to go anywhere. He leaned against the door frame and eyed Coco from under the brim of his hat. "What if I refuse?"

She tried to intimidate him into compliance with a finger planted onto his chest. "I've got orders," she warned lowly. "And they're going to get carried out."

Velvet's ears twitched with annoyance as she separated them again. "Orders which specifically _forbade_ the use of violence. We're in a civilian area, in case you forgot." Unlike her leader, she tried to offer reassurances. "All they want is to talk. That's all."

A glowering Opher wouldn't play ball. He folded his arms and stared both girls down. " _Who_ wants to talk?"

"Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin. The people in charge of the Academy," Coco explained with a tiny sigh. "Why are you so afraid? What else have you done?"

"Don't get me started." Opher lifted his chin just enough to render all of his face visible. He slowly inhaled a breath, then exhaled as if he'd just finished a long drag off a cigarette that didn't exist. A foggy cloud of breath came out all the same.

Both of his visitors tensed up slightly. "How are you…" Velvet wondered out loud.

Their unease made him grin, but he limited his amusement to a few seconds more before stopping the display. "What I've done isn't the problem. Fine. You know what? I'll go. But if anything besides conversation happens while I'm there, I'm leaving. Violently, if I must."

Coco pushed her sunglasses back up and started down the corridor, Scroll in hand. "Whatever. Let's go before my hair gets all frizzy." Her next words were spoken into the device. "Ma'am, it's Adel. Objective complete. We're bringing him in."

They were met outside by two young men, one with copper-colored hair and completely white eyes, the other a walking mountain clad in glittering armor. The latter immediately fell in behind Velvet as they started to move. Coco and the other flanked Opher. "You still haven't explained why you're so scared," she said idly, not expecting an answer.

Opher decided to surprise her with honesty. "Like I said, what I've done isn't really the problem." His eyes became hollow and distant. "What I am is another story."

* * *

Peaceful quiet hung over Beacon's campus as they arrived on foot some minutes later. Opher appreciated the low-key nature of their journey, but lingering suspicion had kept his mouth shut for most of that time. Coco continued to stew on his left side, while Fox hadn't bothered to say a word. Neither had Velvet's enormous bodyguard.

"'You'll be excused from classes for the the duration of this assignment'," Velvet murmured to herself, quoting what Professor Goodwitch had told them. Then her tone got sarcastic. " _Totally_ worth it."

Coco overheard it anyway and looked back at her. "A day off is a day off."

"I know, but…" Opher also glanced over, stealing the rest of her sentence in the process. "Never mind."

Glynda herself stood a few paces ahead on the avenue into campus. She watched their approach for a moment before walking to meet them. "Well done," she praised CFVY with a nod. "Mister Riese, if you'd please follow me."

CFVY broke off and headed for their dorms with Coco leading the charge. "Come on, kids!" she said. "We've got an away mission to get ready for, might as well start now."

Meanwhile, Opher stood in shock at Glynda's sheer height. "Good god, why are the people in this kingdom so damn tall?" he asked, his face screwed up with confusion.

"Hmm. A question for another time, perhaps." Glynda led him forward on long strides, her heels clacking smartly against the metal and stone. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. I am Beacon's Assistant Headmaster." "

Opher filed this information away as he stared up at the huge tower ahead. "Right. What did Pyrrha say about me?"

"We will get to that, but not here." She ducked the question because they were now passing through the courtyard; many students milled about, but none of them wore Beacon uniforms.

Opher recognized the gray-on-gray ensembles of some. "Almost feels like home," he noted, the memories of Atlas rushing back. What came next was nothing like home: Beacon's expansive reception area, a stone-walled room with polished gray granite floors and desks. Tables with oaken chairs dominated most of the space. Beyond these were a single pair of silvery elevator doors. Anxiousness caught up to him as he stepped into the cylindrical car. He started to flip his precious gold coin. "So, how about an answer?"

Glynda tapped a button and looked down at him as their ascent began. "We are aware of your skirmish with the White Fang. And your Aura, at least as far as Miss Nikos was able to describe it." She didn't expect the dourness that crept onto his face. "You were expecting something else?"

"I don't know _what_ I was expecting." After a pleasant chime, the doors slid open. A circular office spread out before him, but the spinning gears all along the walls and ceiling dominated his attention as they walked out of the elevator. Only about halfway through the room did he notice Ozpin himself. James Ironwood stood next to the Headmaster's desk with his back to them. What they were speaking about was beneath Opher's concern. "Okay!" he snapped angrily, getting both men's attention. "Why is _he_ here?" Opher demanded, a finger jabbed in Ironwood's direction.

Ozpin reacted first. "Ah, our guest has arrived," the headmaster stated, rising from his seat. He regarded Opher with a curious, but measured eye. "We were just talking about you."

"Yeah. Exactly what I was afraid of." While he didn't bolt just yet, every fiber in Opher's body tensed up in preparation for a quick and messy exit. "I might talk to her," he added, thumbing over at Glynda, "I might even talk to you," he continued, indicating Ozpin with a shaky finger before turning to Ironwood. "But _not_ you."

"You're a citizen of Atlas," the General replied cooly. "And that makes you my business, like it or not. Let's get to the point. Your Aura-"

Ozpin cleared his throat to stop Ironwood from starting his interrogation. "In due time, James." The headmaster motioned to one of the empty chairs in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat. How has our fair kingdom been treating you?" While the displeasure was visible in his eyes, Ironwood stood back and allowed his old friend to proceed in silence.

Opher felt no urge to sit, nor to be tactful. If anything, the stress made him even more blunt than usual. "Oh, fine, besides the humidity and the hordes of Faunus terrorists with death wishes."

"So I've noticed." Ozpin tapped a large, dark-gray Scroll on the desktop which displayed images in response. "A partially-cremated corpse, four electrocution victims, and one unfortunate soul with a shard of ice through his skull. They must have made you angry."

"I don't take half-measures when it comes to defending myself." Opher watched Glynda walk past and stand near Ozpin's desk. "If you plan on putting me in jail…"

"Why would we put you in jail?" Ironwood interjected with a laugh. "You've obviously got talent, and if she was right about your Aura… you might prove useful to-"

Ozpin's eyes remained upon Opher as the General spoke, so he noticed his agitation grow with every word. The headmaster was a fraction of a second too late to snuff out the fire. "James, I believe-"

Opher lost what remained of his cool. " _Useful_?" he repeated, fists clenched and teeth bared. "Oh, right. Of fucking course. I'm just a potential new soldier, right? Another tool for you to ensure the _glory_ of Atlas." If he'd noticed the sudden concern on all their faces, he would have stopped here, but his red-hot anger held the reins now. "Try to enlist me, then. I dare you. But if even if you succeed, I doubt you'll be able to justify the cost you paid."

"Mister Riese."

There was no need to look at Ozpin when Opher already knew why he'd spoken. Grayish Aura radiated from his form. Some of it seemed to puddle around his feet, only to shoot back up around him in a protective, spiraling embrace. His eyes remained locked on the General. "Well? Is it everything Pyrrha said it was?"

"What in the _hell_ ," Ironwood breathed in awe.

After a subtle nod from Ozpin, Glynda walked over to Ironwood and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "I believe the Professor wants to speak with him privately, James."

"But… but look at it!"

She obliged him unconsciously with a glance over her shoulder. "We see it just fine. Come along." It took a few seconds, but he finally obeyed and followed her to the elevator.

His departure was exactly what Opher needed to start cooling off. As he regained control of his emotions, the squirming fog around his body faded from view. "That wouldn't have ended well," he said after a few deep breaths.

Even Ozpin let himself exhale as things calmed down. "I apologize. When the General heard of your citizenship, he forced his way into the conversation. He tends to do that."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Opher decided it was a good time to sit down. Once comfortable, he eyed the headmaster with smoldering suspicion. "Then again, how do I know you're not after the same thing?"

With a tiny smirk on his face, Ozpin pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I run an Academy, Mister Riese. What would I do with you?"

"I kind of doubt that's your only job title." One final breath had Opher back to normal, or at least close enough. "But you know what? I'll bite. Why the invitation to chat?"

He nodded once at the Scroll before him. "I needed to know where you stood. Vale is on pins and needles as it is. Another pile of bodies won't help matters. Are there others?"

Opher took a long look at the turning gears above for a second before giving an answer. "One more. Guy I threw in the river. Another member of the White Fang that was too stupid to take the hint."

The headmaster cocked a brow slightly. "Seven, then, and you've only been here three weeks. Quite a pace." That brow lifted higher still at Opher's snort. "I fail to see the humor. What about your time in Atlas?"

"A couple of two-bit crooks I made disappear. Literally. That's all." The mild surprise on Ozpin's face caused Opher to cross his arms with a wry smile. "What, you're disappointed by my body count? I'm sorry, but if you're looking for a serial killer, try again. Like I told Pyrrha and Ruby last night, I only ice someone if they earn it. Not leaving me alone is a good way to do that."

"I see." It seemed his guest was calm enough now to stop beating around the bush, so Ozpin framed his biggest question as a compliment and got to it. "Your Aura is quite the spectacle. Your Semblance must be even more of a show."

Opher shrugged at him. "Prepare to be disappointed. You're looking at it."

At first, the vague response was confusing enough to stump him. Then he thought about it against the backdrop of Opher's Aura and made a connection he chose quickly to keep to himself. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"Too bad, because that's as far as I'm going. Look, if you want a promise that I'm not here to flatten your kingdom, then you've got it. I mean, I could have brought the entire building down on those kids you sent out after me." Here Opher paused to knock an errant hair off his shirt and lean forward to drive his point home. "But that would have killed a lot of people that didn't do anything to me. I'm not _that_ big of an asshole."

Ozpin looked away briefly in contemplation. "I cannot help but notice how readily you admitted all of this," he noted. "I could, theoretically, inform the police about you."

The amused glimmer Yang had witnessed came back as he dismissed those words with a shrug. "Uh huh." His tone shifted to mimic the headmaster's. "And what would those police _do_ with me?"

He had a point, one that Ozpin couldn't help but acknowledge. "Touché. I suppose it falls to us to keep an eye on you instead. However, in light of the fact that you came willingly, and without violence, I believe we can work something out."

Opher sighed and slumped back in the chair. "Fine. Whatever gets me out of here and on my way home. I've got work tomorrow morning and I'd kind of like to enjoy my day off."

"Interesting." Ozpin tapped the metal armrest of his seat and blinked. "Dare I ask what you do for a living?"

"I work the register at a Dust shop." Opher burst out laughing at the expression that appeared on Ozpin's face. "I think I might be too boring for you."

The headmaster stifled a low chuckle. "Well, it is a rather mundane job for a person such as yourself."

It was as if a switch had been flipped; Opher stiffened in his seat, suddenly unable to make eye contact. "Yeah… it's about as close as I get to normal these days."

"Ah." While he had many more questions, Ozpin decided it would be best to pick the conversation up another time and stood up with a smile. "I won't keep you, then." He motioned toward the elevator doors. "Though I do believe it would be best if we established a liaison of some kind. To ease both of our consciences."

Considering how bad things had almost gotten with Ironwood, this offer was music to his ears. "I can live with that, I guess," he replied as he followed the headmaster across the office. "The next time the White Fang try to murder me, I won't leave such a mess."

"If you could avoid a next time, that would be ideal." Ozpin tapped a few keys on the pad and the doors slid open. "Miss Nikos received your Scroll number from Miss Xiao Long, so I already know how to contact you. If you wish to wait for an airship, it might take a bit, so make yourself at home on campus in the meantime."

Opher nodded with a frown as he stepped into the car. "Okay, but if the Atlesian military shows up at my door tonight, we're gonna have a very serious problem."

"In more ways than one, I assure you," Ozpin replied, wearing a tiny smirk. "I'll do my best to convince the General that discretion is the way forward in this instance. Good day, Mister Riese. We'll be in touch." Ozpin turned away once the doors were shut and walked toward his desk. Once there, he tapped the open Scroll again. The screen switched from the police file about last night's incident to the passport Opher had used to get into Vale.

He eyed it contemplatively, placing its information against what he'd seen and learned from the conversation. His brow furrowed again. The whole thing's accuracy was now in question, but one item stood out. "Twenty-four years of age, are we?" he noted. "That is _not_ the Aura of a twenty-four year old I saw."

It seemed to Opher that things had gone remarkably well. His immediate reaction was, of course, suspicion. He gave his gold coin one more flip and let it land in his palm. It came to rest displaying a bust of a young woman with text around the edges that matched some of the symbols on his arm. "Heads. I guess that's a good sign."

Even the atmosphere outside had changed. Birds were singing as Opher left the tower and wandered into the courtyard. Based on the number of students in Beacon uniforms now milling throughout the area, classes must have ceased for the moment. He picked his way through the crowd while deciding whether or not to walk home in the stifling late-morning heat. Ringing from his right leg pocket brought him crashing back to Remnant. "Damn, man, I just left," he muttered, flicking the device open with a snap of his wrist. Indigo's grinning face was on the screen. "Oh god… hello?"

"New guy! How did it go last night?"

He lied with a smile. "Fine. Yang happened. They were afraid of her. Can't imagine why."

"I'm gonna tell her you said that shit. You good for tomorrow, then?"

His brow creased with annoyance. "Yes, Indigo, I'll be there in the morning. Is that the only reason you called?"

"Of course not! I got you a present. You know where I live, right?"

"I haven't a clue." Opher looked at the screen as his Scroll beeped, then brought up the mapping app with a red dot. "Oh, look. I found a clue."

"Aren't you just a world-class detective? I'd give it to you tomorrow but…" She trailed off into a fit of giggles that required a moment to get under control. "You'll see. I can't wait to see the look on your face. Anyway, gotta go. Customer's coming in."

"Uh huh. Later, Indy." Opher hung up and stared at his Scroll. "She got me a sex toy or something, didn't she?" A smirking Opher was ready to accept this possibility with open arms; it was leagues better than the problems he'd left behind in Beacon's tower. Despite the increasing heat, his mood was so good he decided not to wait for an airship and headed for the exit. He cast a look over his shoulder at the glowing orbs in the central spire high above him. "Guess I'm really being watched now," he mumbled to himself.

And not just by those glowing yellow spheres, either. Thanks to the cover provided by the crowd, Mercury was able to keep an eye on Opher until certain he was leaving the campus. He hadn't been close enough to hear his Scroll conversation, but the thief had seen him come in with Glynda from his dorm room window. That made him curious enough to come out and wait. Brow furrowed, he produced his Scroll and tapped the screen twice.

"This better be important," an impatient Emerald replied.

Mercury, walking fast to put some distance between himself and any prying ears, had to delay his answer for a moment. "You remember that, uh, _guy_ , right?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I also remember how she said we're done with him. Why are you bringing it up?"

"I saw him go into the administration building with Goodwitch, that's why. Just came out a few minutes ago. I don't know why he was here, but…" Silence. He tapped the device to make sure it was still working. "Emmy? Hellooooooo?"

"Oh my _god_ ," she finally blurted out. "Get back here. Right now."

"On my way." His boots emitted muffled scrapes as he picked up the pace. Upon reaching their room, he was surprised to find only Emerald inside. "Hey, where's the boss?"

She had her back to him, but her tension was still plainly visible. "Our schedules don't match today, remember?"

Mercury had no idea how to handle her anxiety. "Uh… are you okay?"

"Shut the door." Only after she heard the click did Emerald let herself explode. She whirled on her partner, wide-eyed with terror. "No! No, I'm not! What the hell was he doing here? Doing there? With _her_?! Did he see you?"

Unable to handle her frantic outburst, Mercury stepped back with his hands raised. "Whoa, whoa," he said gently. "Calm down. I made sure I stayed way back, he never knew I was near him."

She had to take this at face value; the added stress of questioning it would have made her pass out. "Did he notice me last night?" she wondered to herself, desperately struggling to squeeze out every detail of those memories. "Can't be. I was too careful." At last, she got a grip on her worry and began to fight it. "We're fine. We're fine. Was he delivering a package?"

Her partner shook his head. "Nope."

"Then why…" Fear gave way to thoughtfulness as Emerald sat on her bed. "I can't help but feel this is related to whatever that little get-together was last night. Damn. I wish I'd gotten closer."

Mercury rubbed the back of his neck and blinked. "I've got nothing, then."

"Me neither. Maybe it _is_ nothing." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his face suddenly lit up with realization. "What?" Then she saw the worry in his eyes and shot to her feet. "I swear, if you don't start talking I'm-"

He now seemed as terrified as she had been moments earlier. "Okay, don't freak out, but-"

" _Why not_?" she hissed, her hands clenched again.

Watching her have another fit would only make his own stress worse, so Mercury turned his back on her. "So, uh, that morning when you wanted me to stall him so we could figure what his deal was with Pyrrha? Well…"

Emerald wouldn't have it and darted around to make him face her. "Oh god. What did you do?"

"Nothing! There was some small talk! You know… uh…" The color drained from his face as he looked away. "I might have mentioned I was a Haven student and here for the Vytal Festival juuuuust before you showed up."

"So what?" There didn't seem to be a connection between the events until Emerald managed to calm down enough to think. Her jaw began to slacken. "Wait… you told him our cover story?" She advanced on him one step at a time, eyes bulging. "You… you…"

"N-now wait a second. I thought he was gonna be dead in like, five minutes, tops!" he countered, his arms up defensively.

While the bulging had subsided, a spurt of violent twitches seized one of Emerald's eyes in its place. "He delivers packages here, you utter fucking numbskull! He knows where the exchange students stay! That means he knows where _we're_ staying!"

He was taller, stronger, and more durable than her, but Mercury knew if Emerald got her hands on him, he was as good as dead. As she seethed, he made sure to put more distance between them. "Yeah, yeah, but we didn't know that then, did we? Besides, if he was gonna something about it, why wait this long? That happened days ago."

There was actually a point here; it stopped her long enough to let Mercury catch his breath. "Right… why wait?" And then her fear offered up the perfect rebuttal: the information Cinder had dug up. "Because he _is_ undercover and he needed to investigate first! That's why he was talking to Pyrrha and Team RWBY last night! They have classes with us! They know what we look like!"

"Oh." An attempted breath stuck to his throat like pitch. "Oh, crap."

Emerald closed the distance while he was frozen and grabbed him by the collar with both hands. "And you told him Cinder's name."

He lacked the strength or presence of mind to make her let go. "Please don't hurt me."

Her grip on him was so tight, her arms trembled. "I'm not the one you should be afraid of. Do you know what Cinder will say if she finds out about this?"

"I, uh… no?"

"She won't say anything. She'll be too busy killing us!" Emerald punctuated her sentence by shoving him back and walking away. "We need to _fix_ it. Now."

Fortunately, Mercury was able to regain his footing before he crashed into Cinder's nightstand. "Are you nuts? I don't think we could take him even if we worked together. Wouldn't we need her help anyway?"

"No." The anxiety was gone, replaced by cruel calm. "No. It's not about overpowering him," she muttered, hearkening back to one of their boss' favorite mantras, "It's about taking away what power he has."

Mercury had to roll his eyes at the way she quoted Cinder despite the situation. "Fine, but how are we gonna do that?"

"We need leverage." Emerald whipped out her Scroll and poked rapidly at the screen. Once she found what she'd been looking for, she walked over to her partner with a grin and showed him. A picture of Indigo, part of their dossier about Dust shops and their owners, was on the display. "And _this_ is the only place I know to look for it."


	7. Chapter 7

When Cinder finally returned to their quarters that afternoon, she instantly knew something was amiss. Emerald's too-pleasant greeting tipped her off first. "Welcome back!" she said cheerfully. "How was… _leadership class_?" she added, complete with air quotes and a smirk.

"Inane bordering on asinine," Cinder replied with an arched brow. Mercury, lounging on his bed, looked over with a shrug and a smirk. "Aren't you two in lovely moods… what did I miss?"

"Nothin'," he assured her with a grin. "We're just getting pumped up for this weekend. It's so close."

This took the edge off of Cinder's suspicion for the moment. "I see," she replied evenly, dropping her black bag on the floor next to her bed. "I suppose it is."

Emerald clasped her hands and stretched her arms above her head. "Yeah. It's pretty funny, hiding in plain sight like this. Those suckers are never gonna know what hit them."

The concept of their future success brought a tiny smile to Cinder's face. "Granted. There is still work to do, however. Don't get careless." She turned her back on them to check her Scroll. "I'm heading into Mountain Glenn tonight and I need one of you to accompany me. I do not care how you decide who goes."

Emerald was genuinely curious enough to forget her stress for a second. "What's going on?" she asked, head cocked.

Cinder didn't bother to look when she answered. "I will be overseeing the Dust transfer for phase two. I want to make sure Roman keeps his promises."

"Ew. Torchwick's gonna be there? No thanks, I'm in a good mood for once. Can't you go?" She nodded once to Mercury.

He nodded back and cleared his throat. "God, Emmy, you're such a baby. I guess I'll do it. You owe me, by the way," he said with a smile. "When do we leave?"

Cinder snapped her device closed and finally turned to face them. "Nine o'clock sharp. Be ready. Emerald, I trust I may leave you to your own devices for the night." She stared coldly at Mercury's exaggerated groan.

Emerald's smile was as bright as the sun. "Of course! Thank you, ma'am!"

Too bright; Cinder regarded it with a blank stare before her brow furrowed slightly. "Mm. Are you _sure_ I haven't missed something?" Both her subordinates shook their heads. "I know you wouldn't…" she trailed off, eyes flaring dimly and tone becoming dusky and dangerous, "keep me in the dark, now would you?"

Only a tense Emerald had the gumption to reply. "A-absolutely not, ma'am."

"Good. After I've showered we can decide on dinner. I will not be long." Cinder picked up her bag and walked into the bathroom.

Both of them deflated like balloons and doubled over. "Think she bought it?" Mercury asked quietly.

"We're still breathing, so, I guess?" Emerald hopped up and darted over to her own bed, where she pulled out a duffel bag hidden underneath. "I'm gonna leave about ten minutes after you two are gone. Should take me twenty to get to Stahl's place and just a few more to _convince_ her to get him off our backs. Make sure you text me if it looks like Cinder won't stay long." She unzipped the bag and looked inside to make sure her black ensemble was all there.

"You got it." He laid back again and placed his arms behind his head. "I can't believe you aren't making _me_ do this."

Emerald zipped the bag up and slid it back under her bed. "You know what they say. If you want something done right…" She grinned at his glare. "Eh. I like getting my hands dirty sometimes. Especially with stuff like this."

"Wow. You sadistic weirdo."

As she stood up, Emerald flipped him off with a smirk. "Says the guy who took a life not twenty-four _hours_ after he got here."

Mercury returned her gesture with gusto. "Excuse me? Didn't you help?"

"Got me there." While both were smiling, they couldn't help but admit their banter was only a mask to hide their anxiety. "Uh… good luck tonight," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Not that you should need it."

He stared at Emerald with equal uncertainty. "Yeah. Same to you." Then he sat up and turned on the encouragement. "Hey, if we pull this whole thing off…"

"Yeah." Emerald's gaze became distant as she let their endgame unfold in her mind. "Yeah. Nothing will ever be the same."

* * *

"I'm sorry, could you explain to me how you're going to be late when you're the one who sets the hours?"

Indigo glared at her Scroll before answering Opher's question. "Because I have to switch out the excess wind Dust from our last shipment with the new one that just got here. I didn't know the replacements were coming _today_." She looked past the register at a haphazard stack of boxes placed just to the left of the entrance. "It might take me a little bit."

"Or I could just come over and help you, and you can give me whatever your present is right now."

The fact that he kept making good points was beginning to annoy her. "First, I don't have it with me. Second, I'm not paying you overtime. Again." She boosted herself over the counter and headed for the boxes. "I'll call you when I leave and you can meet me at home." Her gaze shifted to the evening sky outside. "Won't be long, I hope."

"Fine. I'm insulted that you think I'm such a mercenary, though."

Opher's tone had gained a little frustration; whether it was genuine or mocking, Indigo couldn't tell.

"Oh?" she said, brow raised. "You'd work for free?"

"Probably not. I need to buy food this week."

"Reality sucks, doesn't it?" Indigo quickly checked the time and sighed. "All right, enough blabbing. I gotta get this done. See you later."

"Yep. Later."

After tucking her Scroll into the pocket of her black shorts, Indigo took another look at the work ahead. "Did I fuck up the shipment this badly, or did they?" she wondered to herself. "Oh well." A faint, nagging worry stuck to her brain as she looked around. Before getting to work, she darted into the back room and grabbed her assault rifle. Once she had it nearby, Indigo got down to correcting her inventory. Crystals, being easier to handle, went first; fully two-thirds of all the green Dust on her shelves got wrapped up and put away. In their places went a rainbow of colors, including the few white crystals she'd managed to get.

The bagged Dust was a little harder to wrangle, simply because of the increased care in its handling. These required securing with formed cells cut out of layers of foam, and were placed in metal, not wooden cases. There was no grabbing armfuls of the bags. Indigo took two at a time and made sure they were squared away before moving on to the next pair. It was this process that ate up most of the sunset and brought her to nighttime proper. "Damn it!" she blurted out, mopping sweat off her swarthy skin as she surveyed her progress. Thankfully, the job was basically done; all that remained was cleaning up and sealing the boxes for pickup sometime tomorrow.

That, Indigo decided, could wait. She produced her Scroll and tapped the screen to call Opher. "Yo. I'm done." Another look at the time told her she was an hour past their original schedule. "If this shit happens again, I'm switching couriers."

He prefaced his reply with a brief snicker. "I'm sure VPS is quaking in their boots. I'm on my way, then."

"Same." She hung up and carried on with a final sweep of her shop. This concluded with double-checking both of the back room doors' locks. Once the windows were made opaque and the front door was shut up tight, Indigo started for home.

Her apartment block, unlike Opher's, stood south of the river in the city's official residential district. Five stories of brick-clad, inoffensive new-style architecture, the place was barely occupied. A recent renovation had only increased the already-exorbitant rent. It was only thanks to her Crown-mandated military service discount that Indigo could afford to stay here. The emptiness in the lobby bothered her a little more every day she experienced it. Tonight was no exception. It only got worse when she reached the fourth floor. None of the units she passed had light coming from underneath their red doors. "Geez, maybe you shouldn't be charging a billion Lien a month, huh?" she muttered lowly.

One benefit of the low occupation rate: she knew literally everyone on her floor. The person in black kneeling before her door, fiddling with the lock, wasn't someone she recognized. Quietly, Indigo raised her rifle into firing position and advanced, so silent that she was able to get right behind the intruder and hear her frustrated grumbling. "Hands up," she commanded, placing the muzzle against the back of the stranger's head.

Underneath her hood, Emerald's lips moved in a silent curse. She obeyed, straightening up in the process. "That explains why your lights weren't on, I guess."

"Guess so, you…" Indigo paused, realizing her captive had a height advantage, but pressed on with her planned insult anyway. "...little bastard. Turn around."

Emerald obeyed again, head tilted forward to obscure as much of her face as possible. "Awful big gun for such a small girl, huh?" she noted caustically.

Indigo sported a cruel grin. "Close your mouth before I close it for you. Face me and start backing up."

Once more, Emerald played along, but only to stall for time and think of a way out. A silent Indigo backed her along the hallway at a snail's pace, finger on the trigger of her rifle. She suddenly looked past her at something. "Bad-"

That was all the distraction Emerald needed. Her right hand slammed the muzzle down toward the floor as her left grabbed the bulk of the gun; both then gripped it and thrust it backwards. The butt connected with Indigo's forehead in a fierce impact and knocked her out cold. As she fell, Emerald wrested the gun from her fading grasp and pointed it at the unlucky person that had stumbled upon the scene. "Wrong place…" The person with a left arm covered in black tattoos. "Wrong…" The person staring down at her with empty green eyes. "Oh… oh hell..."

A stiff breeze bent the wide brim of Opher's hat as he glared at her in silence. Emerald squeezed the trigger. Three shots sparked off of his ice-covered, outstretched palm.

"Damn it!" she shrieked. Before she could fire again, Opher lifted his other hand. Ice flowed from the rifle's muzzle. The barrel was clogged; Emerald didn't dare fire the weapon now.

She tossed the weapon aside and drew her revolvers from their holsters. The hoodie interfered with this process for a fraction of a second; by the time she got them pointed at him, they too were iced over. "H-how…"

He teased her as he lowered his arms. "You seem to be having some problems there."

A growling Emerald ditched her weapons and sprinted at him. Once in range, she leaped and rotated to plant a flying back kick into his chest. Her strike hit, but she didn't feel much of an impact. This was confirmed when she looked and saw Opher was only forced back a step or two. Occasional wisps of ghostly gray smoke wafted from his body. His Aura, she decided. She knew one way to deal with that. Another roar escaped her lips as she charged again. A flurry of fists crashed into Opher's jaw.

Those blows did little more than move his head back. It took a few punches for her to register the continuing lack of effect. "Wait, what…" she breathed, eyes stuck to his face as she backed away. Little gray wisps of something like smoke wafted off his form. "What is-"

Opher smirked viciously at her. "Oh, no. Don't stop. This is fucking _hilarious_."

A wide-eyed Emerald attacked again. Her feet pounded the tile as she ran and jumped, driving a kick at Opher's stomach to knock him back. Her goal was to put space between them so she could run; a few quick strides in the other direction indicated her plan worked. Then her shoe hit a patch of ice and she fell flat on her face. "Damn it!" she screamed, holding her nose. Her Aura prevented it from breaking, at least, but the impact still hurt immensely.

She looked back to see Opher skating after her on the slippery floor. His own self-made gale pushed him closer; in the space of a second he arrived. Emerald lashed out immediately, sweeping her leg in a wide arc to trip him. Opher did topple to his right, but a handspring and another burst of wind had him on his feet again. While he recovered, Emerald broke the engagement and dashed over to her revolvers. He was right on her heels. Ice still clogged the barrels. As the blades deployed, she turned on him with furious swings. Her attacks fell short as Opher blew himself backward on the ice. Indigo's unconscious body now laid between them.

Her first plan of action, now that she had some time, was to try and leverage her Semblance against him. She squinted at Opher's face as she tried to twist his mind with hers; the goal was to make him think Indigo was in danger so he'd back off. With each passing second, however, a familiar pain began to seep into her skull. It seemed as though her power was being split between two minds. Opher, cracking his knuckles and apparently unaware of her machinations, began to approach.

Emerald had run out of time. If an illusion wouldn't work, the real thing would. She darted over and placed a sickle against Indigo's neck. "Okay," she said breathlessly, "This isn't exactly how I planned it, but results are results. Come any closer and she dies."

Opher crossed his arms with a hearty laugh. "You stupid child. She's gonna die anyway, but it won't be tonight."

Emerald could question his statement only briefly. She felt her shoes lose grip as another patch of ice appeared on the floor beneath her. She made sure her blade was snug against Indigo's throat to stop him from doing anything else. "Not smart. You try to throw me around and I might _accidentally_ hurt your friend."

This threat was dismissed with a faint smile. "Try to think in three dimensions, kid."

His words made her face drop. "Wh-" A column of ice erupted from below her as Opher snapped his left arm skyward. It smashed her against the ceiling before vanishing.

Before Emerald could hit the ground, Opher dashed forward and caught her. He sent powerful jolt of yellow electricity through her body and discarded her on the floor. "Hold on. I'll be _right_ back," he advised coolly. He turned his back on the twitching criminal to examine Indigo. There was a distinct wound on her forehead leaking blood, but she seemed to be breathing easily. "Good. We've got time to chat."

"No… no…" Emerald gasped weakly, trying to lift her revolvers as he advanced on her again. The shock had left her muscles in chaos; they would barely respond to her impulses. She stared at the gray fog cloaking his body. "No! Get… get away from-"

Opher silenced her with a punt to the ribs that launched her all the way to the end of the corridor. "Come with me. I don't want to wake Indy." He snatched her up by the hood on her black jacket and dragged her into the stairwell. Each time she started to struggle, Opher punished her with a fierce shock.

"Let me…" Opher interrupted her with another blast of electricity. Emerald's teeth were clenched so hard, the "go" wouldn't come out. Equally tight was her grip on her revolvers, but only because her fingers were electrically locked into fists. Desperation creeped into her brain. Most of her Aura had been spent protecting her skeleton from being crushed. She had little left to give. "I'm…" Fear took over. "Please. Stop. I give up. I'm-I'm sorry."

"Not yet you aren't." Opher hauled her up the steps. Each little impact drew a grunt from her lips. Once he had her on the roof, however, he wasn't sure what to do with her. The revolvers in her hands got his attention. "You won't be needing these." He pried them from her grip and tossed them off the roof. That gave him an idea. "You know what? I'm gonna let you leave. The fast way."

"What-" Emerald fought with what strength she had left as Opher tugged her toward the ledge. "No! _No_!"

"You'll have to do better than that. I'm pretty used to begging." He peered over the edge and considered his options for a moment. "This building is five stories tall, isn't it?"

"Please, no," she whispered, too scared to even tremble. She winced when Opher placed fingers on her chin and turned her head toward him.

"Yeah," he decided, staring into her wide red eyes with a grin, " _Now_ you're sorry."

Emerald gasped out one last desperate protest before he shoved her into the alley below. Opher watched her descent all the way to impact, where she landed with a sharp, sickening thud on the concrete. As he turned away, he frowned at the little holes in his yellow shirt. "Damn it, I _just_ bought this thing."

He held on to that displeasure for a few moments to cool down. Once he was certain his Aura was no longer visible, Opher returned to see to Indigo. She was already sitting up in the corridor. "Why is there water?" she asked the air, tracing the wet path Opher's assault had left behind on the tile. When her eyes landed on the man himself, she gasped and stood on wobbly legs. "Opher! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I got in a little fight, that's all," he assured her gently. "What about you?"

Indigo tried to wave off his concern and grin. "Shit, I'm good. I've got a soldier's Aura. This ain't nothing."

While the wound on her head did appear to be closed, Opher couldn't confirm or deny any internal damage from the blow. "I'm sure it's not, but I'd rather hear that from a doctor. Come on."

She let him guide her along down the hall, but didn't stop talking. "Your shirt's all fucked up. Did she hit you? I'll beat her fucking ass."

It was Opher's turn to smile. "You're a little late for that, I'm afraid."

"Uh huh. Talk yourself up." Indigo gave him the once over and saw no damage besides his clothing. "She got away from you?"

He refused to meet her gaze despite his snarky grin. "Yeah, she really flew out of here. I couldn't keep up."

"Damn. I wanted payback." Indigo made him stop so she could retrieve her rifle. "What's with all the water? What happened?"

Opher gently turned her away with a hand on the shoulder. "Don't think too hard about anything, Indigo. I don't know if your brain can handle it right now."

* * *

She was alive, but in immense pain. Not _in_ pain, really; Emerald had _become_ pain. It was impossible to determine where it ended and her own thoughts began. The fight itself wore her Aura dangerously thin; what was left of it now fought to keep her alive. A cursory self-check revealed that it was easier to list what bones weren't broken. Emerald had no choice but to lie on the cold ground and pray Opher wouldn't come back to see if she needed finishing off. At least her nose had ceased bleeding, so she could breathe. She could probably talk, too; her throat wasn't one of the many body parts that radiated agony. This meant she could call for help, if her Scroll hadn't been destroyed in the fall.

And if either of her arms worked. Every bone in her right arm felt broken. That made sense; she'd tried foolishly to break her plunge with that one. Her left was in much better shape, but moving it still produced a shooting pain in her shoulder. Emerald, gritting her teeth, fought through it and patted her rear. The Scroll was in her left back pocket, just as expected. After several moments of bitter effort, she managed to set the device near her face, open the eye that still worked, and tap the button to activate it. Mercury hadn't texted her yet, which meant Cinder was still occupied. It also meant they were likely underground and out of signal range. Emerald tapped her partner's smug face and sent two words that took her nearly a minute to type: _help me._

So the wait began. Emerald went limp again as the suffering washed over her. "Somebody…" she choked out after an eternity, "somebody find me already…"

Her Scroll started to ring; it took her a second to remember where to tap it to answer.

"Emerald?" Mercury's voice was as concerned as she'd ever heard before. "You okay?"

She sucked in a breath to test her throat and let it out with the words attached. "...not really."

"What… what happened?"

"Opher… threw me off the roof. I can't…" Emerald paused to catch her breath for a moment, "I can't… move." Tears started to leak from her open eye. "I'm scared. What if he comes back, Mercury?"

The concern was gone from his voice, replaced by fierce determination. "We're on our way."

"No, don't tell her!" Emerald protested, raising up and regretting the motion instantly with a loud groan. "Please, don't…"

Too long passed before a reply. When it came it wasn't his voice, but Cinder's. "Too late."

The line went dead, as did what little hope Emerald still held of living to see the sunrise. Renewed fear fought the aches and stings of her injuries as she lay there, crying quietly to herself. Dying by Cinder's hand was better than being killed by Opher, she tried to convince herself. It didn't work, no matter how many times she repeated it in her head. She rolled over onto her back, twitching in pain, and stared at the sky. Passing out again seemed like a great idea.

The fear of not waking up kept unconsciousness at bay. Against her better judgment, she gave herself little tasks to do, like forcing open her other eye to make sure it worked. While its vision was blurry, at least she wasn't half-blind. Next, she tried to wiggle the fingers on her right hand. This caused her so much pain she almost screamed. "Forget it," she hissed, "I'm fucked up enough." She elected to lie still and avoid causing herself any further anguish. "Maybe I should try to sleep."

"Wow, he hit you so hard you're starting to talk to yourself."

Emerald looked to her left and found Mercury standing over her with his Scroll open for illumination. She lacked the strength to smile, or think up an appropriate insult. "I can't sit up."

"I don't think you should try, to be honest." He knelt down to get a better look at her injuries. "Holy hell. That guy fucked you _all_ the way up." His gaze lingered on Emerald's bloody face before moving on to the cuts and scrapes all over her dark skin. "Damn."

She had other concerns at the moment. "Where's Cinder?"

"Shouldn't be too long before she gets here. She had to take a detour." Mercury blinked as Emerald started to weep quietly. "Emmy?"

"Just tell her to kill me," she whispered. "I can't go back to Vacuo. I… don't want to go back…" With a grunt, she managed to hide her face with her working arm. "Please…"

"Come on, now, it's not that bad." he said as he sat, taking care to avoid the large red splotch on the concrete where she'd landed. "I mean, yeah, Cinder is… not happy about this, but I don't think she wants to dump you anywhere." Now Emerald was sobbing, her sharp breaths followed by full-body twitches of agony. "Um. Do you need a hug?" When she didn't answer, he glanced around awkwardly. "I'm just gonna sit here, then."

"You have the bedside manner of a brick." Emerald moved her arm to look at him as her crying subsided. "I don't want to die."

Mercury put on a smirk and crossed his arms. "Stop being so dramatic." He tensed up when he saw Cinder walking toward them. "Uh oh."

"Isn't this a terrific mess," Cinder stated, her eyes glowing faintly. There was a marked lack of sympathy on her face as she beheld Emerald's physical state. "I should leave you here for being so deceitful."

Before she could start begging, however, Mercury raised his hand with a shrug. "Ah, it's my fault. I shoulda told you before I told Emmy. She panicked. I panicked. We thought we could handle it without you needing to get your hands dirty."

Cinder peered at the battered Emerald again, then glanced at her revolvers, which were lying nearby. "I'm glad to see your plan worked out _so_ well."

She gnashed teeth to hold the sobbing at bay. "I'm sorry…"

"You certainly look sorry." From a small bag on her hip, Cinder produced a little white pill and moved closer to Emerald. "Open your mouth and take this. You," she said, pointing at Mercury, "stay with her until she stabilizes, clean her up, then bring her back. If Riese appears at Beacon again, the _only_ thing you will do is let me know. I will handle it. Understood?"

"Y-yes ma'am," Emerald assured her weakly. She swallowed the pill and held her breath until Cinder straightened up and was out of physical striking range.

"You're gonna go after him, right?"

Cinder turned her gaze to Mercury and frowned. "Our plan must come first. All else will wait." She grabbed her Scroll and opened it. "For now, everything that has anything to do with him is off-limits. Roman will have to bribe another courier for his wind Dust."

"Right, right. The plan." Watching Cinder tap on the device got boring fast. "How you doing down there, Emmy?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt as much now. That's a start." Her pain had subsided all the way to a background throbbing; it was much easier now to follow her Aura as it continued to work. "What did you give me, ma'am?"

"Nothing you wouldn't have gotten in a hospital. Your Aura will be more efficient if it's not trying to soothe all your pain." Cinder closed her Scroll with a _thwack_ and idly patted her hair. "Try not to keep me waiting." And then she walked away, the sound of her heels echoing off the walls.

"Hey, that went pretty good!" Mercury wanted to poke Emerald for emphasis, but wasn't sure where he could touch her. "I'm going to have to carry you back, aren't I?"

Emerald forced herself to sit up so she could stare at him. "Why did you cover for me?"

"Huh?" His eyes widened a bit before he recovered and put on a smirk. "You know I hate seeing people get kicked while they're down."

She had no idea what to do with that response but counter it sarcastically. "Don't you _kick_ people when they're down? Usually in the face?"

"Eh." He relaxed back against the brick wall and changed the subject. "I've got a question for you."

"Fine. What?" she asked, gently checking the bruises on her face.

"Still think Opher is undercover?"

Thoughtfulness made Emerald go still for a few seconds. "No. A cop or soldier wouldn't..." Recalling his final smile silenced her with a shudder. "Forget it. Never thought I'd see someone as cold as Cinder." She carefully laid back down and sighed. "And almost as scary."

* * *

"All right, just hold this for a moment for me."

Indigo peered at the nurse, but took the Scroll from him and glanced at the screen. Front and center was an app she hadn't seen for a while: an Aura scale. "Fine, fine." The meter read green, though a tiny sliver of black clung to the right end. "I'm all good, right?"

"Just a scratch," he replied pleasantly. "Doctor Watson says your Aura soaked up the impact. No concussion. You should be good to go, but-"

She rolled her eyes and cut him off. "Take it easy for the next twenty-four hours? That's what she said. Man, I've got a shop to run."

"If only you had an employee," Opher chimed in, stroking his chin as if in thought. "Somebody you could delegate tasks to." He was seated in a chair in the corner of the examination room.

Indigo regarded him with a smirk. "Shut up, smartass." She handed back the Scroll when prompted and hugged herself. "Can I get my clothes now? This gown makes me feel weird."

"I'll go dig 'em out of storage. Back in a flash!" The nurse waved and departed.

Opher decided it was a good time to stand and stretch. "So, do you want me to take you-" He looked at the open door as a black-haired woman rushed into the room, squealing unhappily, and latched onto Indigo in a hug. "Uh… hello?"

"Oh boy. Schwarze, it's fine," Indigo assured her with a few awkward pats on the back. "Stop crying."

Schwarze didn't pay her the least bit of attention. "Absolutely not!"

"I knew I shouldn't have told you this shit until morning." Indigo grew tired of the embrace and pried her off. "Relax."

"I'm going to let you two…" He blinked at each woman in turn as he moved toward the door. "...talk? Cry? I'll be outside." At least there was a bench in the hallway for him to use. Not long after he sat, however, he noted a man in a suit that appeared a bit out of place heading his way. Only when Opher saw the badge on a chain around his neck did things start to make sense. "Oh, the police," he said, standing up to greet him. "Nice moustache."

"I wish my wife agreed with you." He offered a hand which Opher shook after a second. "You're, uh… sorry, not sure how to say your last name. Anyway, you're the guy," he hesitated, looking around to be sure nobody was too close to eavesdrop, " the guy Professor Ozpin mentioned to the Captain."

Opher cocked a brow and frowned. "That would be me, yes. Just call me Opher. You must be our go-between."

He shook his head at that. "Nah. I'm just here for the usual interview stuff. Or I would be if you weren't around. Oh, yeah, I'm Detective Umber."

While he felt a little tense, Opher was unwilling to make too much of a scene with Indigo so close by. He still wore a faint smile. "Detective. Right. Here to arrest me?"

"Heh, no." Umber's voice got low again. "Ozpin said it would be best not to, you know, _agitate_ you. There was a lot of Dust residue in that hallway. Big fight?"

This assertion earned a shrug before Opher shoved his hands into his pockets. "That would be my fault. We had a nice little skirmish. Did I break anything?

"Nothing the insurance won't cover, I'm sure. Perp musta jumped off the roof to get away from you, then. Found some blood splatter in the alleyway, but no body. Whoever it was must have been some hot shit to survive that fall. If you wanna handle this yourself, that's fine with us. Roman Torchwick and the White Fang kill enough of our boys." Umber's eyes lit up suddenly. "Hey, speaking of those animals, we found six of 'em on a roof a couple of nights back. Had to have been killed by Dust. Was that…?"

"Shhhh," Opher hushed the detective with a finger to his mouth.

Umber nodded approvingly. "Heh. I saw those bodies in the morgue. Any enemy of the White Fang is a friend of mine. Your buddy in there okay?"

Opher broke away to peek into the room, where he saw Schwarze and Indigo chatting quietly. "Yes. I think I _will_ handle this one myself, if you guys wouldn't mind."

"Works for us. See you around." Umber departed with a friendly wave and a smile for good measure.

"Hmm." Opher couldn't help but wonder what other benefits suddenly being associated with Beacon might bring, but those thoughts would have to wait. The nurse returned with Indigo's clothes, took them in, then came out and shut the door behind him.

Not two minutes later, the woman herself burst into the hallway with Schwarze close behind. "All right, how much shit do I have to sign to get out of here?" she said loudly. Her eyes landed on Opher. "Go home, new guy. Schwarze's gonna hang out with me. You've done enough. Thanks." An awkward Indigo found herself incapable of eye contact and coughed. "Yeah. Go on. Bye."

In any other situation, he would have made fun of her. Instead, Opher just smiled. "You're going to open tomorrow anyway, aren't you?"

"You're damn right I am. Nine o'clock. Be there." She gave him a hearty slap on the arm as he walked past.

"Of course you are. Good night, Indigo." The farther away he got from her, the more his mood leveled out. By the time he exited the hospital, Opher was in full-on thinking mode. Emerald had survived his onslaught. This made him smile; he doubted the lesson he'd taught her would soon be forgotten. It also made him frown. Perhaps he'd underestimated her. Her partner, too. Whether or not he should be worried about their strength was an easy question to answer: he wasn't. If Indigo hadn't been there, Opher would have turned Emerald to ashes. He had been holding back.

Why they'd go after Indigo in the first place proved harder to resolve. There was only one apparent reason, of course. They were trying to get to him, but facing him directly was suicide. What Opher couldn't guess at was why. He had to stop walking and find somewhere to sit to tackle this one. A wooden bench under the skyway seemed like a great place; he noted shortly after sitting that he'd ended up almost directly across from Schwarze's pub and blinked. With the hustle and bustle and traffic of Vale to envelope him, Opher searched the sky in thought. What possibly could have set Emerald off?

After a time he had to vocally admit it: "I don't understand." Hunched over and scowling, Opher tried to pin _something_ to the events of the evening. Perhaps the failed robbery? No, he decided, that was too long ago. She would have acted sooner. The White Fang he'd killed? He slumped back against his seat and frowned. There was no way to prove or disprove this one; he didn't know whether or not there was any relationship between the parties. "I _really_ don't understand." Only one recent event remained, but his visit to Beacon that morning didn't fit. Why would that earn such a response? He'd been there before.

Then it hit him. Mercury's comment about being a Haven student. About being in Vale for the Vytal Festival. Thanks to his delivery runs, Opher knew where the exchange students were staying. Things were beginning to fall into place now, so fast he had to get up again to walk off the excitement. One of them must have seen him with Glynda. "They thought I was gonna tattle," he muttered. "Couldn't even come after me directly, could you?" His brow raised a bit. "I mean, that's logical, but now I'm just pissed off."

This time, however, he had some idea of where to look for his enemy. He _could_ head over there to take them out at his leisure, but that might get messy. What if he went to Ozpin about their antics instead? A cruel grin bent his lips. "You know what? Maybe this whole 'friends with Beacon' thing isn't so bad after all."


	8. Chapter 8

Ever since Ironwood set up shop at Beacon Academy, Ozpin was amused to note how often the General would beat him to his own office each morning. Today was no different. The headmaster sipped at his piping hot coffee as he stepped out of the elevator and started walking. Glynda was present as well. Both were waiting at his desk. Beyond them, through the windows, dreary clouds muffled the sunrise. "A pleasant morning to you both. I hope our daily meeting isn't going to ruin that."

"That remains to be seen," Glynda said with a frown as Ozpin took his seat. "James, you may proceed."

The General started off with a mild shrug. "Security is holding up well, all things considered. I'd like to funnel more resources to Vale itself, but I'm honoring your request. The background check system appears to be doing its job. Have you heard anything further from Qrow?"

"Unfortunately, no." Ozpin rubbed his chin in thought. "I appreciate your restraint concerning matters within the city walls. You know how the King feels."

"I'm not here to show up His Majesty's army," Ironwood replied with a polite smile. "My priority is the safety of the festival and its guests."

"Indeed." The look on Glynda's face said she wanted to speak next. Ozpin regarded her expression with a tiny grin. "Time for the bad news already?"

"I think you'll have to decide whether it's good news or bad." Glynda tapped briefly on her Scroll. "Both of you should have the official police report now. Or, rather, the _lack_ of one. All we have is an internal memo."

"Oh?" Ozpin blinked and produced his own device from a desk drawer. What he saw on its screen made his eyes narrow. "I see Mister Riese was busy last night."

Ironwood had his own Scroll in hand by now. His eyes scanned the confidential Vale Police documentation. "That fool was fighting _in_ an apartment building?" Further reading eased his mind somewhat. "No civilian casualties. Good."

"Considering what we saw yesterday, I doubt he was giving it his all." Ozpin needed another sip of hot coffee to help him think. "Although I would like to know what started it."

Glynda tapped her Scroll again; this time it emitted a cheerful little beep. "Shall I round up a team to retrieve him?"

"No need." Ozpin already had Opher's Scroll number up on his own device. He tapped the screen to make the call.

Four rings passed before the man in question picked up. "What is the point of having this number unlisted if literally everyone seems to know it?" Opher muttered unhappily.

While Glynda and Ironwood didn't find his statement humorous, Ozpin chuckled briefly before mounting a reply. "Good morning to you too, Mister Riese."

"Oh, it's you. I guess you heard about last night?"

Ozpin settled back and stared off. "The event has come to my attention, yes. I'm curious to know what transpired."

Opher took a breath and rattled off his explanation. "I beat the hell out of some idiot in Indigo's apartment block. And before you even ask, yes, she deserved it, and yes, I tried to limit the damage. I didn't want to break the building with Indigo still in it, obviously."

"Your restraint is…" Ozpin needed an instant to find an appropriate word. "...appreciated. Is there anything we might be able to help with?"

His tone suddenly became amused, almost cruel. "Ha, no. This is personal. I'll handle it."

"Aren't you not concerned for Miss Stahl's safety?" the headmaster asked, his brow slightly raised.

"After what I did to that bitch? Nope." A few beats passed before Opher added, "Thanks for the wake up call. Anything else you want to know before I get ready for work?"

Unsure of how hard he could push, Ozpin decided to let it go for now. "I suppose not. Good day." As he ended the call, Ozpin looked up at his colleagues for their reactions. They matched his: dissatisfaction. "That did leave something to be desired, didn't it?"

Ironwood nodded his agreement. "No kidding. It seems like he's made an enemy. I'd like to know who."

"Team CFVY is beyond the wall at the moment, but I'm sure Team RWBY is up to the task. I'll just deploy-" Glynda stopped short when Ozpin shook his head at her. "Why not?"

The headmaster leaned forward and clasped his hands. "We know where he'll be. Let's think of a valid reason for him to end up here."

"Why?" Ironwood asked, bracing himself on the desk. "There's no need to be sneaky about anything. You just said we'll know exactly where to find him."

Glynda glanced at him before nodding to Ozpin. "I actually agree, for once. You're being surprisingly tactful. Even for you."

He gazed at her over the rims of his dark glasses. "Just because Mister Riese and ourselves know what the score is, that doesn't mean we shouldn't maintain _some_ confidentiality." Ozpin brought up something else on his Scroll: a military personnel file with Indigo's picture. "There is the matter of his employer, for instance. I'm not sure how far we can trust her. Furthermore, the easier we make it for him to keep his secret, the more likely it is he'll stay here in Vale."

Ironwood dismissed his reasoning with a sharp wave. "Oh, please. Even if he ran, he wouldn't be able to stay out of sight for long with us looking for him."

A smile appeared on Ozpin's lips as he gently put the General in his place. "Of course. We were so aware of him already."

"You…" Ironwood squinted and looked away. "Point taken. Did you have something in mind?"

"Actually…" A few more swipes on the screen brought Ozpin to his inbox. Near the top of the list of messages was one from Weiss about dance preparations. The subject line, "Ice Dust Sculptures", made him grin faintly. "Perhaps I do." He glanced at the clock before replying to her message and setting the Scroll aside. "With any luck, our excuse will be here before classes begin."

"Message me if it works," Ironwood requested as he spun on his heel and started to leave. "I've got a meeting soon, but I want to talk to Opher again. We started off on the wrong foot."

Glynda rolled her eyes at his retreating form. "Understated as always, James." Once the General was gone, she looked over at Ozpin with a hand on her hip. "You know something. You _always_ know something."

"I simply make informed guesses, Glynda." After shutting down his Scroll, Ozpin rose, mug in hand, and moved to the window to look out. "I believe Opher's Aura may be compressed," he added a few moments later. "I cannot be entirely certain, but what we witnessed is too similar for comfort."

"Certainly, but…" Recalling some history learned from her own time as a student left Glynda standing in concerned silence. "You don't think Opher is _that_ powerful, do you?"

"It's a risk I'd rather not take." Ozpin took a longer-than-usual swig of coffee and frowned at the gloomy panorama below. "If we want to find out, we must approach things carefully. The peace is fragile enough as it is… and one world war was enough."

* * *

Three bullets were missing.

Ever since she'd gotten her precious rifle back, this fact continued to evade explanation. Three missing bullets wasn't the only problem she had with last night's adventure, but it was by far the largest. "He was right there," she murmured, tossing the magazine in her left hand as she stared out of the shop's front windows. "She knocked me out and had him at point-blank range. How…"

An encroaching ache in her skull let Indigo know she was overthinking the issue again. She took rifle and ammunition and set both in the back room. Opher would be there soon; all she had to do was ask him. Indigo returned to the main room and stared at her reflection in the glass countertop. The bandage above her left eye caused a scowl. "Damn her." Sudden, dull roaring above derailed her thoughts; she looked through the windows to see rain falling outside. "Great." And then Opher appeared on the sidewalk a second later. "Shit!" she hissed, straightening up with surprise.

"Don't yell at me," Opher said once he got inside. "I wasn't in it long enough to drip. Your floor is safe." His hat was a mess, though; he shed it and frowned. "Water-resistant my ass. The box lied to me."

"Uh, yeah," Indigo replied, nervously toying with her blue ponytail. "I hope you got a better night's sleep than I did."

"Eh. It wasn't bad." He opted to vault the counter instead of going around and disappeared in the back for a moment to deposit his hat. Once he came back, however, he couldn't help but notice Indigo's awkward countenance. "What?"

Here he was, right in front of her, but Indigo couldn't force the questions out. "Nothing. Your hat looked stupid," she said with a fidget.

"Wow. It's the same hat I've-" Opher fell silent and stared off as he realized what had to be happening. "There's something you want to talk about." Now it was Indigo avoiding eye contact. Opher bent down and leaned a bit to met her uncertain gaze. "Indy. Hello."

"Did she shoot at you?" Indigo's question sat between them like a block of ice, silencing and freezing both for several seconds. "I had a round chambered and it was gone. Two are missing from the magazine." Now that her mouth was open, Indigo was wholly unable to shut it. "She took my rifle. She had to shoot at you. How did… how are you not dead?" To punctuate her confusion, Indigo turned at stared up at him.

There was no way it would work, but Opher tried it anyway. "I guess she was a terrible shot," he quipped with a smirk.

"No!" Indigo exploded, slamming her left hand down on the counter. "This shit isn't funny anymore! Someone came after me and you could have died saving my ass! I need to know what the fuck is going on here!"

Opher slipped his hand into his pocket and found his coin. While glancing toward the front of the store, he frowned silently and made the choice to come clean. At least, to an extent. "A couple of idiots are after me," he began, looking down at Indigo. "Not the people that tried to rob the store, but a couple of pickpockets I pissed off a few days back."

She crossed her arms and pinned him with a stern glare. "And that means they're after _me_ to get to you, right? What did you _do_?"

He didn't try to avoid her eyes, but he did avoid a great deal of the truth. "They tried to rob me and failed because I beat their asses."

Under normal circumstances, Indigo would have laughed at his assertion and made fun of him. Now, she wasn't so sure what to think. "They teach you how to do that shit in the quarry?" she asked, a suspicious frown on her face.

"I…" Opher broke eye contact and gazed at something a thousand miles away in his mind. "I was a Huntsman once."

"Once? You sound like you're fifty."

Squeezing the coin, Opher smiled at her a little. "Life travels fast, you know. You're gonna ask me why I'm not a Huntsman now, aren't you?"

Indigo still looked incredibly serious. "Yeah, 'cause I have a feeling you fucked up and got somebody killed." Her words made his face contort with displeasure; that expression took her breath away. "Oh, shit, did-"

Opher silenced her concerns with a cheeky smirk. "Calm down," he said. "No, that's not why. I just got made obsolete. Ironwood's pet androids do most of the Grimm hunting up north lately."

"So you got laid off? I didn't know that could happen to Hunters." Picturing this somehow made her feel a little less awkward. Thinking of last night brought her right back to being uncomfortable. "All the water was you, then? Dust?"

Opher raised his hands a bit, almost as if he were surrendering. "Yes, it was me." He blinked when Indigo leaned back against the counter and sighed. "What?"

"I can't believe your scrawny ass deflected bullets. Damn it." She was really fuming now. "So much for my present."

The change of subject was welcome. "Which was what, by the way?" he asked curiously.

"Ah, I got you a pistol. We were gonna go to the range. I was gonna laugh at you for being such a bad shot. Now you're a Huntsman and shit and it's not as funny anymore." Indigo entered full-on pout mode and glared up at him. "I should have known." Her attention went to his tattoo sleeve. "Nobody has that much ink without being a badass."

Opher cocked a brow and grinned. "Then where are _your_ tattoos?"

Indigo cracked a smile at his remark. "Real smooth, new guy. I don't like needles."

Once he'd gotten done snickering, Opher leaned on the counter and glanced out the front windows. "I have a confession to make. I've never actually fired a gun."

Stung by surprise, Indigo said "Bullshit!" and straightened up. "You _just_ said you were a Huntsman."

"Excuse me, but we don't all use firearms. I'm sort of old-school. Bladed weapons and stuff." His gaze became distant again. "'We'. I was more of a freelancer than usual. It's not like I had a team"

"So you didn't attend an Academy?"

A dark cloud settled over Opher's countenance. His mind's eye settled on that snowy valley once again. "No, I didn't. I had to learn the hard way."

"Ahhhhhh, fuck, I _knew_ something happened to you," Indigo mumbled, kicking herself for crossing that line, unintentionally or not. "Forget it. Uh…" She paused to make him glance at her. "Thanks. For last night. Did that chick _really_ get away?"

Unwilling to dampen the mood too much, Opher just shrugged at her. "Like I said, she really flew out of there."

On her way to the back room, Indigo reached up gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Oh well. I hope you made your point before she bolted."

Opher allowed himself a cruel smirk now that Indigo was out of sight. "Oh, I suspect I did." It had to leave fast; the door chime signaled that customers were walking in.

"Just because you were a Huntsman doesn't mean you don't have to say the catchphrase, by the way!" Indigo informed him loudly.

"I'm going to need another zero on the end of my paycheck." Opher coolly regarded the new arrival: Weiss Schnee, who stared back with equal iciness. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Failing to convince Yang to run another errand for me, that's what." Weiss approached the counter just as Indigo stepped out of the back room. "Excuse me. How much ice Dust do you have in stock? Crystals, preferably."

Indigo came to a stop and stared at her for a moment. "Oh, wow. A Schnee. You here to buy out my shop, or are you lookin' to steal back my employee?"

A stunned Weiss glanced between them. "I beg your pardon?"

Opher shut up his boss with a not-so-subtle elbow to the side. "I dug up Dust in a Schnee quarry once upon a time, that's all."

"Hmm. Interesting." Weiss got things back on track with a polite, if forced, smile. "Now, about my inquiry-"

"Oh, yeah." Indigo glanced up as she took a mental inventory. "I've got some big ice crystals in the safe, depending on what you need. Might take a little while to weigh and pack 'em, though…"

"I'll take every stone you've got." Weiss checked the time with her Scroll. "Could you please deliver them to the Academy this afternoon, say, around 2:30?"

"Sure. I'll send the new guy out. You wanna pay now or do COD?" Indigo blinked when the heiress placed a purple Lien card on the counter. "And suddenly you're my favorite person in Vale." She looked up at Opher. "Take her money before she changes her mind. I'm gonna get to work."

While he followed her orders, Opher stared daggers at Weiss. "This isn't about Dust, is it?" he muttered once Indigo was out of earshot in the back room.

"It certainly is. Yang recommended this shop to me." The heiress cast a judgmental look around. "And frankly, I'm not impressed."

"Of course you're not." Opher finished entering her Lien into the register and pointed to the door. "Tell your team I said hello."

"Hmph. We've got our eye on you," she retorted, sneering at his tattoos and storming out.

The moment she exited, however, it started to rain. Opher chuckled as Weiss shrieked and darted out of sight. Once the silence returned, however, he peeked into the back room and watched Indigo, partially hidden behind the door of the open safe. The prospect of another trip to Beacon had him worried again.

In this instance, however, it wasn't for his sake.

* * *

Rain was still coming down as Opher prepared to leave. Beacon was only a quick airship ride away, normally, but Indigo had just found out that the runs were stopped due to the weather. "I forgot my umbrella," she admitted sheepishly. "Do you have one?"

Opher was less concerned with the weather. "Nope," he replied, hefting the heavy metal case onto his shoulder. "It's just water. I'll be fine," he assured her, tugging at the hem of his red shirt.

She tapped her fingers on the counter in disagreement. "Are you stupid? That's a long fucking walk in a thunderstorm." Her face suddenly went blank. "Wait. You were a Huntsman. You're probably used to this shit."

"You have _no_ idea," he confirmed with a sigh. They both stared out the windows. "I'm not sure when I'm gonna get back."

"It's cool. I'll just use some of Weiss' money and call that your overtime pool for a while." A frowning Indigo watched him move to the door. "Uh… be careful, I guess."

"I'll be fine, mom." He shrugged with a smile and entered the deluge.

Despite a quick pace, Opher was soaked before getting two full blocks away. The spiraling path up the wall provided him some refuge, but at its summit he faced a long, empty road with little more than sparse tree branches for shelter. Happily, there were no people up here; he took the opportunity to start drying himself. To deflect the rain, he flicked up a conical wedge of air above his hat to act like a canopy.

Opher scaled the gradual slope until the path flattened out at the cliff's edge. He peeked down once or twice into the water below, then into the clumps of trees on his other side. As he approached, Opher debated whether or not to let himself get wet again to keep up appearances once he reached the campus. After a moment, he decided he didn't really care what Beacon's students thought.

Therefore, when Weiss saw him walking up the avenue, she couldn't figure out why he lacked an umbrella. "What on Remnant are you thinking?" she chided while walking over to meet him. Then she noticed how dry he was. "I… what?"

"You stay dry your way, I'll stay dry _my_ way," he said with a smirk.

She had to tilt her umbrella to look up. Droplets of water fell around him, as if detaching from a circular edge above his head. It took a second before the sight clicked; Opher had an umbrella, she just couldn't _see_ it. "How are you doing that?"

"Years of practice." Opher shifted his burden to his right hand and looked up at Beacon's immense tower. "I hope you're gonna show me where you want this stuff."

"Well, of course." Weiss turned her back and started walking. "Follow me."

* * *

While Mercury and Cinder were up with the sun to start their day as usual, Emerald was not. Hours had passed; while Cinder had been willing to cut her some slack, her patience was beginning to wear thin.

And as she often did, Cinder sent Mercury to do her bidding. he discovered Emerald in the same position they'd left her in: curled up in the fetal position on her bed with her back to the door. Despite being still, she wasn't asleep; she twitched a bit when he poked her on the shoulder. What she didn't do was swat or snap at him. Mercury had no idea what to do with the situation. "Emmy, come on," he urged gently. "Time to rise and shine. We've got combat class in a couple of hours. Cinder wants us to have some fun with Pyrrha Nikos."

"I'll be there. Leave me alone." Emerald's voice lacked all of its usual brassy confidence. A hoarse whisper had taken its place.

Mercury noted the three white pills on the table next to her bed. "You still hurting? Take one of these things."

"I'm fine, damn it. Leave me alone."

Clearly she wasn't, but Mercury found himself between two women that were, or were going to be, annoyed with him no matter what he did next. "Man, there were some real benefits to being a lone wolf," he muttered while stepping away from Emerald to think. His partner was too fragile for him to handle, he decided, so he produced his Scroll and sent the boss herself a message.

About two minutes later, Cinder opened the door. Before she could enter, Mercury intercepted her and moved her back into the hallway. "Of all the things I ask of you, _this_ is the one with which you need help," she murmured unhappily.

Mercury leaned against the wall and frowned. "Oh, come on. I'm not cut out for this crap." His face dropped with concern. "I think he messed her up. Not like, physically, but, you know. I don't know what to say to her."

Cinder inhaled a long breath through her nose and sighed. "Very well. Wait for me in the dining hall." She entered their room and closed the door.

Emerald could hear the footsteps as Cinder approached, but assumed Mercury was their source. "I told you to get lost," she growled lowly.

"He did."

After jerking with surprise, Emerald rolled over and sat up to look at Cinder. Her eyes were visibly puffy. "Ma'am! I'm up. I'm…" A muted grimace stopped her from speaking. "I'm-I'm… totally fine."

With eyes faintly aglow, Cinder looked at her until Emerald started to squirm a little. "Really?"

"R-r-really," she nodded frantically. The motion caused a sharp pain in her neck; that forced out a hiss and a wince. "Yeah."

"Hmm." Cinder retreated and sat on the edge of her own bed. "Don't you usually brief me after an engagement? Share what you've learned?"

Emerald's face went blank. "I… well, yeah."

A faintly smiling Cinder crossed her legs and clasped her hands. "I'm waiting."

Wrangling with the memories again made her uneasy, but Emerald was more terrified of invoking Cinder's displeasure again. "I, uh… I mean, I…" Even collecting herself was a struggle; her fists clenched as if she were grabbing something to steady her nerves. "I got to Stahl's apartment and couldn't pick the lock. It was one of those stupid 32-bit code encryption systems and I didn't have all my tools."

Cinder nodded with approval at her suddenly business-like tone. "A mistake, but no matter. Continue."

"Stahl showed up and held me at gunpoint." Her red eyes rolled in thought as she tried to recall the weapon's type. "Assault rifle. Valesian Army standard issue. She backed me away from her door and… and…" Opher's arrival was too large a mental hill for her to climb. She clammed up and gazed into her lap.

"I assume this is when Riese appeared?" Cinder asked quietly.

The prodding was just enough to help Emerald speak. "Yes ma'am. He distracted Stahl long enough for me to take her weapon and knock her out. I turned on him and…" She couldn't figure out how she'd get through what was coming and fell silent again.

"I don't require a blow by blow, Emerald. A summary will do."

"He was…" she trailed off, searching for a way to distill her beating, "...extremely proficient in the use of Dust. I got hit with ice, wind, and lightning. He used ice and wind for movement, mostly. Not sure how he used it, either. Nothing on him glowed. I never even saw him holding a crystal or powder."

Cinder grew thoughtful as she listened. "Perhaps he has it embedded in his flesh? A rather classical method, but not unheard of."

"Couldn't really tell you. All I know is he was pretty damn good at whatever he was doing." Her eyes suddenly got wide. "Oh, yeah, I used my Semblance on him. It just… it didn't work."

"Hmm." Cinder rose and ran a few slender fingers through her hair to hide her surprise. "Well, it appears he was head and shoulders above you as far as ability is concerned." A cruel little smirk appeared as Emerald's shoulders slumped. "This is what you get for embarking upon your own little adventures. You two were lucky with Tukson. I suspect you did not find the same fortune with Opher Riese."

"No ma'am," a defeated Emerald replied.

Cinder's expression shifted from the vague shadows of anger to something a little softer. "Are you afraid of him?"

Her shoulders slumped even more. "Kind of. That idiot told Riese our cover story. I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking every time I closed my eyes would be the last."

"You're looking at the situation incorrectly."

"Huh?" Emerald looked up as Cinder bade her to rise. Getting to her feet required no small effort and a few hisses of pain. "I don't… ow. I don't understand."

"You view this place as your grave, when it is instead your shield. No matter how strong he is, attacking us on Academy grounds would be suicide," she explained, striding idly over to the window. Distant rumbles of thunder came and went as rain furiously tapped the panes. "Here, you are safe." Abruptly, her almost-motherly patience ran out; if Emerald's Semblance had failed her against this man, she needed to be sure he wouldn't become a problem. "And as I explained to Mercury, it is here you will stay. Unless I send or accompany you somewhere, you are not to leave this campus. Am I clear?"

Emerald stood as rigidly as her miserable aching would allow. "Absolutely, ma'am."

"Good. Get dressed and come to the dining hall." When Cinder opened the door, however, Mercury was waiting behind it. "What are you still doing here?" she demanded lowly.

He pointed past her and at his gray suitcase. "My umbrella's in here. Have you looked outside?" Then his attention went to Emerald. "Emmy! How you doing?"

"I really should have sent your ass to Stahl's apartment," she muttered with a glare.

"Ah, good. You're fine," he said with a snicker, and proceeded to get what he'd come back for.

He and Cinder departed so Emerald could get ready. The still-howling thunderstorm greeted her as she opened the double doors of their building. Fortunately, they were waiting for her. Huddled awkwardly under the black canopy, they dashed for the dining hall. Upon arrival, they found another, weirder sight: a series of increasingly unrecognizable ice formations on tables at the far end of the hall. Weiss and Professor Ozpin, along with Yang, were walking around and examining them. Only a few other students, most of whom wore Haven uniforms, were present.

The blonde exploded with laughter as Cinder and her associates sat nearby. "A swan?" she gasped between chortles. "Really?"

"This is absolutely a swan!" a livid Weiss fired back.

"It looks like a duck that got thrown into a woodchipper!"

"Of course _you_ would have no idea what constitutes fine art." Weiss turned her back on Yang and smiled up at Professor Ozpin. "Ignore her, please. These sculptures are simply for proof-of-concept purposes."

Even after a sip of coffee, Ozpin couldn't figure out what he was looking at. To him, however, the quality was less important than the logistics. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't believe there will be enough room for more than one."

Yang was still immersed in her tour. "Dude, this one looks more like a swan than the actual swan."

Weiss turned away long enough to snap at her teammate. "It's a turtle! I-ugh. Just stop talking. Please." She put on a professional smile before addressing Ozpin again. "I'd be perfectly content with one sculpture, Professor, thank you."

"Come on, Weiss, all we need for this party to be awesome is loud music, fireworks, dancing, and balloons," Yang said as she walked over to them.

The last item on her list didn't jive with the other three. Weiss tilted her head. "Why balloons?"

"'Cause Ruby likes 'em," the blonde explained with a shrug.

Ozpin cleared his throat for attention. "I shall approve one sculpture. We can talk about placement later. Now if you'd be so kind as to clean up?"

"Awwwww, yeah," Yang said with a grin. She raised her Ember Celica-clad fists. A click rang out from each gauntlet as ammunition was loaded into their chambers. "Time to put these suckers out of their misery."

"Don't you dare!" Weiss objected shrilly.

Cinder and company only watched Yang punch one of the sculptures before covertly turning their attention to Ozpin's retreat. He didn't leave through the door they'd used to enter; in fact, he didn't leave at all. Emerald and Mercury were able to track him to one of the massive windows, where someone else was already standing. Both were looking out, and the headmaster's companion had their arms folded. "Not sure who that is," Emerald admitted lowly. "Brown hair. Awful taste in clothes, sheesh," she added, sneering at his sky blue jacket.

Mercury, rubbing his chin, ventured a guess. "No uniform? Eh, probably just someone from Vacuo."

Emerald glowered over at him. "What do you mean _just_ somebody from Vacuo?"

"Qui-" Cinder started to say, only to be interrupted by the noise and chaos of Yang obliterating another sculpture. "Or perhaps it doesn't matter." She even sneaked a look back to see for herself.

"Whatever, I'm hungry." Emerald used her Scroll to check the menu while Yang continued to wreak havoc off to the side. "Glad somebody around here is having fun." She flinched at the shattering noise as another statue was obliterated.

"Yang!" Weiss shrieked, trying to stop the blonde. "Are you _insane_?!"

She was too busy lining up another punch to pay Weiss too much attention. "Hey, I stopped firing shots. What else do you want from me?"

"I want you to stop being you for five minutes!" the unhappy heiress screeched.

Yang, now finished aiming her fist, snickered heartily. "Why would I not wanna be me?"

Cinder idly watched as another sculpture met its end. "She certainly is... loud."

Mercury grinned at this. "Which one?"

"Take your pick," she replied with a ghostly smirk.

"There he goes," Emerald interjected quietly. Ozpin, apparently finished with his conversation, departed from the dining hall through the entrance at its far end, deploying an umbrella as he went. The person to whom he'd been speaking remained at the window. Her focus returned to the menu. "Oh, wow, they've got tilapia."

"They've got what now?" Mercury tilted his head at her.

"You know, the fish."

He couldn't pass up this chance to needle her with a grin. "How would you know about fish? You lived in the desert."

Emerald snapped her eyes toward him with teeth bared. "I will _cut_ you, smartass." After a few seconds, she managed a tiny grin.

Before Mercury could reply, a blinding flash of lightning from the thunderstorm outside blinded them for a moment. Deafening thunder quickly followed. The lights above went dark. While the students chattered with surprise, Cinder and her team remained mostly quiet. "I wonder which tower that hit," she mused.

Yang, some distance away to their side, felt a need to shout, "I didn't do it! I mean, I think." A few of the students laughed.

The large windows allowed in enough gloomy light to see, but even after their eyes has adjusted, things were still fairly dark. People bunched together, using their Scrolls as light. The devices no longer had signals. A bored Emerald tapped her fingers on the table and sighed. "So much for lunch."

"No kidding. I wish I'd eaten breakfast," said a sudden and familiar, voice from behind Mercury.

Cinder looked up; Mercury had to turn to confirm the speaker's identity. Emerald did neither. Instead she froze stiff and stared ahead with an open-mouthed frown. She knew him by voice alone.

Opher grinned at the back of her head. "Aw, come on. Not gonna say hello?" He regarded Mercury's growing agitation with equal amusement. "Don't worry," he said quietly, indicating the case in his right hand, "I've got to get back to work. I'm just saying _hi_." Cinder's piercing gaze drew his eye next; he examined her face and tried to figure out her relationship with Emerald and Mercury. "Oh," he muttered, remembering the time Mercury ambushed him in his apartment. "You must be _Cinder_. Riiiiiiight. Well, you kids have fun."

That was it. Opher put on his hat and left them behind, not even bothering to give them a second look. A quietly stunned Cinder watched him enter the deluge. Given the public setting, she had to mute her reaction for now. "Terrific."

Emerald slumped forward, her hands clasped on the table. Whether she was relieved or in pain proved impossible to tell. "I'm sorry," were the words that came out first, even though she couldn't figure out why. "I mean… uh…"

Mercury gave her a few gentle pats on the back while looking at Cinder for guidance. "Okay. Now what?"

Cinder rubbed at her eyes for awhile as she tried to think. Once she was certain everyone's attention remained on Yang and Weiss, who were arguing again, she mumbled, "This is starting to get out of hand."


	9. Chapter 9

"Uh, maybe you should take another pill."

Emerald glanced up at Mercury as he spoke, then to the broken moon high above. "I'm fine."

He cocked his head with a smirk. "I don't think you're fine. You keep, like, grunting when you walk. It's weird."

"I said I'm fine," she repeated through gritted teeth. "It's just cold."

She had a point; the storm front had blown through and taken summer along with it. In its wake remained crystal-clear skies and brisk winds. Gusts funneled through the alleys and streets of Vale and raked Emerald and Mercury as they walked. "Why didn't you bring a jacket, then?" he asked.

"Stop babbling and _go_ ," demanded an unhappy Cinder, who brought up the rear of their procession. "I do not want to spend anymore time on this errand than is necessary."

Her order startled Emerald into a jog. "Yes ma'am."

"Aw, but I love spending time with you guys. We're just one big brutal family," he said with a smirk. A fiery glare from Cinder helped get him moving.

They slipped through the night, eventually reaching Vale's oceanside industrial district. Factory smokestacks with red lights on their tops pierced the sky. Lower to the ground, an infinite web of pipelines hung above the streets, snaking around the corners of buildings as far as the eye could see. Their destination, a quartet of large white warehouses, sat toward the center of the district. Cinder led her team into the easternmost of these structures.

Roman Torchwick saw her coming through the gaping front entrance. "Oh, great. As if my night needed another reason to get worse."

Cinder and company ignored him, walking past him without a word.

"Huh. Not sure whether to ask what's going on or be thankful for the peace and quiet," he grumbled through a scowl.

Cinder watched the White Fang, who were loading Dust into trucks, for a moment before turning to regard Roman with a dour gaze. "We have a problem."

"When don't we have a problem, sweetheart?" he countered, swinging his cane as he walked over. "I owe the White Fang some wind Dust, for instance, but that apparently doesn't count, does it?"

"Your debts are not my concern." Cinder fussed with her Scroll before showing its screen to Roman. "I need information about this person. Perhaps one of your friends might be able to help me?"

Roman stooped a bit to peer at the device. Opher's passport was on screen. His eyes darted around briefly before getting stuck to the man's first name. "Are you serious?" he began with a snicker, "His name is-"

" _Yes or no,_ " Cinder growled, her eyes aglow with fury.

"Touchy, touchy." Roman paid more attention to Opher's face. "Isn't this the guy that was standing on the roof outside our little get-together a couple of nights back? Some of the White Fang took pictures of him."

A surprised Emerald turned to look at Roman. "Hold on, how did he know about the meeting?"

"Hell if I know. I'm just going by what the help said." One of those minions, who walked past with a small crate in her arms, got Roman's attention. "Hey! You with the crate!" he called out to her, "Weren't you at the recruitment meeting? Come here."

Violet stopped in her tracks and sighed. Cargo still in hand, she moved over and stood before them with a frown. "Yeah, I was there. Who wants to yell at me now?"

"No one," Cinder assured her smoothly. "Do you recognize this man?"

Her feline ears twitched as she saw Opher's face again. "My squad chased him down, but I got to him first. Then he kinda kicked my ass."

"Join the club," Mercury grumbled lowly.

A curious Emerald stepped toward Violet. "You fought him? What happened?"

She set the crate down and ran a hand awkwardly through her ebony hair. "I couldn't hit him, then he started using ice Dust on me. Like I told the Lieutenant, I had to run before I got killed. Lost my kama in the process."

"What happened to your squad?" Cinder asked.

"They…" She trailed off, looking away with a scowl. "Yeah. I think that _guy_ happened to them, if you get my drift. I never saw 'em again after we got split up in the alleys."

Roman tapped Melodic Cudgel on the floor in thought. "Didn't the Lieutenant assign snipers to your bunch? And he still beat 'em. Huh. Maybe we oughta hire this guy. He seems to know what he's doing."

"We knew most of this already." Emerald looked at each member of the group and sighed. "I don't think he's been in Vale long enough for people to start talking."

Cinder put away her Scroll and rested a hand on her hip. "And my contacts in Atlas are few and far between. I don't like the fact that he's come out of nowhere. We lack information… _and_ leverage."

Mercury, antsy with the lack of action, bounced from foot to foot. "There's still Indigo Stahl, right? That's something."

"Perhaps, though how badly might another provocation end?" Cinder noticed Emerald's face suddenly go blank. "What?"

"It might not matter anyway. When I fought him..." she paused momentarily to collect the memory, "he said something about how Stahl was 'going to die anyway, but not tonight'. No idea what he meant."

Mercury's brow furrowed with confusion. "Okay, why the hell would he say that about somebody he was _helping_?"

This revelation only fueled Cinder's uncertainty. She peered through a nervous Violet in silence, searching for an explanation. None would come.

Violet thought Cinder was unhappy with her _._ "Uh, may I go now?" she asked through a tense smile. "My cousin's waiting on me to get finished." It only hit her that she might be dangerously out of line after she'd fallen silent. Her eyes got wide. "I mean… please don't kill me."

"You are dismissed." Cinder watched Violet toddle off with her crate while issuing orders. "Mercury, Emerald, stay here and make sure the transfer remains on schedule." She squinted when they, and Roman too, groaned with annoyance. "I won't be long."

"Yes ma'am. I'll take charge, I guess. As usual," Emerald grumbled. Her hand slipped into her pocket and came out with one of the little white pills. "I'm gonna need this if I want any hope of putting up with you two."

Roman watched her swallow it with a smirk. "Oooo, are we running drugs now? Do _I_ get any?"

His quip had Emerald glaring daggers. "Go steal some, you ass. That's about the only thing you're good at."

A stone-faced Cinder left their bickering behind on quick, purposeful strides. In an instant her Scroll was in hand; a few swipes brought Opher's empty gaze back to its screen. Along with it was every scrap of information she had about him, including his Scroll number. Once she was out of earshot of the activity behind her, Cinder made the call.

"I can't possibly guess who this might be," he answered after three rings, words dripping with caustic displeasure. "Well? Who wants to fuck up my evening this time?"

Cinder chose her greeting carefully. "Opher Riese. I'm sure you remember my voice."

"Do I?" A pregnant pause came and went before he started snickering. "Yeah. Is there someone in my fridge waiting to murder me? I wouldn't even be mad, that would be pretty damn impressive."

Her expression remained serious as she deflected his humor. "I only want to talk."

"Explain to me why I shouldn't just tell you to fuck off?"

Her brow creased with frustration. While it would be convenient to deflect the blame, Cinder knew this problem was just as much her fault as Emerald's. A lack of oversight, really. She should have maintained tighter control over her personnel. But where fists and blades had failed, words would have to succeed. They were all Cinder could rely on now. "My associates have made errors, admittedly. There surely must be some method by which this all goes away."

"Oh, are you suing me for peace?" Opher's thoughtful murmurs occupied the next few seconds. "I guess I won."

Cinder clenched her teeth, leaning hard on her discipline to avoid any outbursts. "You _must_ want something."

His tone became contemptuous. "Sure. Too bad it seems your associates are either unwilling to or incapable of giving it to me."

That wasn't an outright no, so Cinder pressed him again, calling on what she knew of Emerald and Mercury's previous encounters. "I can make promises. You'll never see their faces again."

He laughed again. "If you think that's what's bothering me, you're giving those children too much credit."

"Then what?" Cinder asked, her brow creased with vague frustration. "Name your price."

"In exchange for keeping my mouth shut, stay away from Indigo."

Now her brow was raised. If what Emerald had said was true, Cinder couldn't figure out why he'd care about Indigo's safety enough to barter with it. Still, it was something. "Very well… but how can I be sure you won't talk?"

"Heh. You can't. Ask yourself what the bigger risk is: me spilling the beans, or those kids of yours fucking up again and pissing me off. Because if I have to deal with this shit again, _Cinder_ , I'll level that campus until I'm satisfied there won't be a next time. So, what'll it be?"

His words struck Cinder as nothing but bravado. "Quite the statement. You wouldn't dare."

"You think so? Ask the idiot you sent to Indigo's apartment if there's anything I wouldn't dare to do."

Thinking back on what he'd done to Emerald made Cinder frown. He had a point. This wasn't a situation she found herself in often, but for once Cinder lacked the power in this exchange. Eyes narrowed, she stalled for a few seconds before being forced to admit her position with a venomous, "I accept… for now. Though I suggest you watch your step." She hung up and put her Scroll away. Her pyrrhic victory brought only partial satisfaction, however. There was still too much she didn't know, especially where his visit with Beacon's administrators was concerned. Some thought cooled off that worry. All she needed was three more days. If they could walk the tightrope that long, Opher Riese wouldn't matter anymore.

* * *

Although he had little, if any, reason to believe things had changed, Opher did experience an unusual sense of peace when he awoke the next morning. Taking things at face value meant there was only Ozpin to deal with now. Opher assumed the headmaster wouldn't send anyone to assassinate him. It was a start.

And he had time to think about it; there was a message on his Scroll from Indigo saying that the shop would be closed today. No reason was given, but he already knew why. "Wonder if I can see it from here," he muttered to himself. A quick check from his sole living room window proved fruitless. Once he was dressed, he left the apartment, weaved through the people heading out to join the crowds, and emerged onto the roof. In the western sky, over the sea, hung Amity Colosseum, escorted by Atlesian airships. It would be traveling to its staging area for the festival over the course of the morning.

As he looked around, Opher noted dozens of others on his roof and the surrounding buildings too, all with Scrolls or binoculars in hand to watch the floating arena's approach. He regarded their excitement with a blank face and folded arms before ringing from his pocket distracted him. Like most of the calls he seemed to be getting these days, this one had no face attached. "God, not again." He answered it anyway. "Who are you, what do you want, and why?"

"Mister Riese. It's-"

Opher's eyes narrowed to slits. "Goodwitch, isn't it? What do you want now?"

"Professor Ozpin would like to-"

"Of course he would," he interrupted with a groan. "About what?"

"Mister Riese, please try and act like an adult. This is about appointing a liaison and the Professor prefers to handle these sorts of things in person. This is not the sort of matter one settles over the Scroll."

Opher, after rolling his eyes, gave that a bit of thought. "I guess you have a point. When?"

Glynda's tone started cool, but ended up noticeably, if politely, caustic. "At whatever time would be most _convenient_ for you, of course."

He tapped his foot and looked into the sky. "Very thoughtful. I've got errands to run, so this evening. I dunno. Maybe around six?"

"We'll be expecting you. Good day."

"Uh huh." Opher ended the call and stared at the new set of Dust crystals lined up on his TV stand. "Better eat first, I guess." After an internal query, he picked up the ice, wind and lightning crystals and walked into his kitchen. "Man, when's the last time I had to use any fire?" Once he'd gotten a bottle of water from his fridge, he started swallowing the Dust. Even with the lubrication, the process was still a painful one. "Owwwww," he groaned, rubbing his throat once the last crystal was on its way. "I wish I could chew these fucking things."

Before he could get back to the living room, his Scroll rang again. This time the caller had a face. "Yes, Indy," he greeted, still wincing. "I got your message."

"Damn, new guy, you sound terrible. You sick?"

He continued to rub his neck lightly. "My throat hurts a little. Don't worry about it. What's up?"

"Me and Schwarze are on the skyway waiting for the Colosseum to fly over. You seen it yet? Isn't it insane?"

Opher balanced his Scroll on a bubble of wind while putting on his shoes. "Yeah, I saw it earlier. I don't understand why everybody is so excited."

She didn't care for his dismissive tone. "What? Don't tell me you're not gonna watch the tournament. Hell, you could _enter_ it. Don't Hunters get a chance to qualify for the senior bracket?"

A smile appeared on his face as he whipped up an excuse. "And get smacked around by people with far more talent and skill? I thought you actually _liked_ me. Why do you want me to get wrecked?"

"Yeah, that's a good point. You wouldn't make it out of the first round."

" _Wow_ ," he grumbled, stung despite that reaction being roughly what he was aiming for. She could have at least _tried_ to be supportive."Thanks a lot. I guess the night before last doesn't count for anything."

"Aw, I'm yanking your chain. Oh, shit, here come the airships. Gotta go, I need this thing's camera."

"Uh huh. You have fun." Opher used another gust to knock his hat off the rack and bring it over as he hung up. "Pretty sure it'd be patently unfair for me to fight in the tournament." But as he rose and donned it, he couldn't help but wonder what the experience would be like. "Then again… could be funny to see the looks on everyone's faces."

* * *

While his day turned out to be refreshingly normal, a few thoughts stuck to the back of Opher's mind. Foremost among these was wondering if Cinder would keep her word. As afternoon faded away, he began to think about not showing up at Beacon as he'd promised.

"I really shouldn't be getting this attached," he scolded himself as he put away the groceries. "Indy won't be there forever."

Those words served as both freedom from responsibility and as chains upon his heart. Indigo _wouldn't_ be around forever. Whatever might happen to her wouldn't matter, and even if it were his fault, it would fade against the inexorable march of time. As would she. As would everyone and everything else he ever touched. Opher ran his eyes over the tattoos on his arm. "I'm so tired."

Suitably depressed, Opher checked the time and sighed. He needed a distraction. Since seeing Indigo would only deepen his misery, another conversation with Professor Ozpin would have to do.

On this occasion, Opher's walking distance was limited to getting to the airship terminal. After arriving, however, when he scanned his Scroll to provide proof of identification, he found his security priority had been changed. No longer was he on the merchant's whitelist; instead, under his picture were the words "Bronze Clearance". "Uh, what's this?" he asked the clerk.

This woman had seen him a few times before, and as such was just as confused. "I'm not entirely sure. Just a moment." The same phrase came up even after she re-entered the information. "No, this is correct." She motioned past a long line of people waiting to pass the security check to a lane with no one but an Atlesian soldier. "That would be your lane. Have a nice trip!"

Opher blinked as he turned away from the counter. "Right. Thanks."

The differences continued as he boarded the airship. The steward took one look at his pass and ushered Opher right up front to a section of the vessel with half a dozen, well-appointed, _reclining_ seats. It was Opher's first time in the first-class section of an airship. He found it fairly impressive, even if the colors were a bit garish for his liking. With such luxurious surroundings, the trip to Beacon seemed to take no time. Even getting off the airship was a new experience; he was allowed to disembark first, walking by a crowd of annoyed-looking souls in standard class as he went.

"This has to be Ozpin's doing," Opher muttered as he strode away from the airship dock. He glanced up at the central tower first, then to Amity Coliseum as it hovered off to the right. Since classes had ended for the day, Beacon's campus teemed with students going somewhere. Opher was slowed by a particularly thick crowd in the courtyard. It took a few moments for him to push through and reach the administrations building.

Opher wasn't the only one in the reception area when he arrived. Seated around one of the oak tables was Team JNPR, engaged in quiet conversation. Not only were they not in uniform, but each had weapons either on their person or stationed close by. Pyrrha noticed has arrival first. "Oh, good evening," she called politely. Her verdant eyes glittered with a hint of nervousness. "I hope you're not still upset with me about-"

He didn't let her finish. "I really haven't decided yet." Opher examined the rest of her team with folded arms, starting with Nora and Ren. "Not sure who you are." He then stared at Jaune. "You either never told me your name or I just didn't care enough to remember."

Jaune's face dropped. "Why are you so mean?"

"I prefer to call it 'being blunt'." Opher took a seat nearby with the intent of ignoring them until Ozpin was ready to see him.

Pyrrha wasn't going to let that fly, of course. "This is Jaune, our team leader," she explained while gesturing toward him. "And this is Ren and Nora."

"Hiiii!" Nora chirped with a wave. "Pyrrha, were you seriously afraid of this guy? I could totally bench-press him."

Pyrrha issued a nervous chuckle. "Nora, let's not-"

"And I could do the same to you, short-stack," Opher shot back. "What's your point?"

"Oo, you wanna go, skinny boy?" Nora picked up Magnhild, which was currently in grenade launcher form, and displayed a mighty grin. "Let's take this outside! Or inside. Or both!"

Jaune rolled his eyes and walked over. "Bad," he corrected her with a firm pat on the head. "No pancakes for breakfast tomorrow."

Nora's expression went from haughty to heartbroken in a flash. "B-b-b-but Ren just bought fresh blueberries…"

"Maybe I'll change my mind if you sit down and be nice." Jaune nodded approvingly as she obeyed, although he shot an uncertain glance at Pyrrha afterward. "Did I do it right?"

She smiled back at him. "Yes. Good job."

"Yeeeah. Jaune Arc, in command!" Opher's dour look ruined his mood. "Aw, come on, do you _ever_ smile?"

"Sorry. I'm not good with kids," he replied in perfect deadpan.

Despite his lack of emotion, however, Jaune took incredible offense. "Wh-we're not kids! We're Hunters-in-training! Show some respect!"

With green eyes glittering, Opher knocked Jaune down a few pegs. "And I am a _Huntsman._ Take your own advice."

Pyrrha responded before anyone else could. "Hold on, you're a Huntsman? You never mentioned this before."

Opher had his sarcasm turned all the way up. "Isn't it strange?" he muttered while crossing his legs. "At any rate, I was a Huntsman once, yes."

The redhead set her frown aside to keep the conversation moving. "So you went to school in Atlas."

He didn't answer for one reason: where this line of questioning would lead. While Opher was willing to go down that road a bit with Indigo, doing so with strangers was another story. It didn't matter how much Pyrrha looked like Carmine. Instead, he remained silent and looked away.

Nora, still grumpy over the loss of her prospective blueberry pancakes, lashed out at his silence. "I bet he screwed up."

"Oooooo," Jaune murmured, "Nora, that was kinda harsh."

She folded her arms with a pout. "He took my pancakes."

Instead of snapping at her again, Opher rose and walked away in silence. Nora's mere mention of failure hit him hard; it brought back a flood of regret that robbed him of the ability to speak. Such was his misery that all he could think to do was retreat. After a bit of wandering, he took a seat on the far side of the room with his back to JNPR.

Pyrrha watched him leave with concern. "Nora, I think you should apologize."

She only grunted in reply.

"Nora," the redhead said again with an unhappy glance. Another grunt was her reward. "Nora!"

"Don't wanna," she finally concluded with a huff.

"Geez, you're definitely not getting any pancakes now," Jaune said. They all winced at Nora's high-pitched squeal of distress.

Pyrrha stifled a sigh as she started toward Opher. "I'll go talk to him." As before, when she arrived, Opher avoided all eye contact. Unwilling to push too much, she took the chair across from him and watched Ren try to reassure a displeased Nora. "She didn't mean it."

Opher decided there was no point in remaining silent, but he kept his face shielded by the brim of his hat. "She doesn't even know what 'it' is. Neither do you."

"Your reaction was indication enough." Pyrrha turned her gaze to him. "She thinks you scared me. She's still a little mad."

"Was she wrong?" he asked, raising his head just enough for his left eye to become visible.

"Well…" Pyrrha hesitated a bit. "No."

"You have every right to be afraid." Increased commotion from behind made him look back. Nora was again the source, emitting squeals of joy as she clung to Ren. "They seem close."

"I won't presume to speak on their behalf too much, but they've had a hard life together." She waited to continue until Opher glanced up at her. "I saw something like that in your eyes too, the first time we met." He started chuckling and she couldn't figure out why. "What is it?"

Opher straightened his hat with a fading smile. "You just remind me of a friend of mine, that's all."

The way he deflated immediately after those words told Pyrrha it wasn't Indigo. It also indicated the worst, but she had no idea how to confirm her suspicions delicately. "I see. Are they… never mind, it's not my-"

Opher pinned her down with both eyes. "Yes, she's dead." Before Pyrrha could even produce an apology, he added, "They _all_ are," with a ghostly frown and a glance at the floor.

It left her stunned for several seconds. Once she found her breath again, she used it to bellow out a stern "Nora Valkyrie, come _here_."

Her teammates all went still and looked over, startled by the emotion in her voice. Nora eventually obeyed, though her reluctance meant it took a few moments for her to shuffle their way. Subdued grumpiness still ruled her features. "Whaaaaaaat?"

Pyrrha got right to the point. "Say you're sorry."

Nora wanted to deny her a fourth time, but between the stern fire in Pyrrha's eyes and the way Opher currently held himself, instinct told her not to. "Fiiiine. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Opher said quietly. "I'll try not to take anymore of your pancakes."

Nora snorted and grinned. "Fair enough, skinny boy!"

"Thank you, Nora. I'll be back over there in a moment." As Pyrrha watched her skip away, she stood up. "You don't have any packages… what brings you here?"

"Ozpin." Pyrrha's surprised expression made Opher blink. "What?"

"He wanted to see us as well." A ding from across the room made her look up. The chime had come from the elevator. Its doors slid open, revealing Glynda Goodwitch.

"The Professor will see you now," she stated while stepping out of the car to make room for them. "All of you."

* * *

Ozpin was still busy with his Scroll when they all filed out of the elevator into his office. He glanced up to confirm everyone was present before putting the device aside. "Good evening, one and all. Mister Riese, if I might speak with you first."

"Okay." Opher approached his desk while JNPR stood off to one side and tried to act like they weren't too interested. "Before you say anything, though, thanks for the airship priority upgrade. I've never traveled first-class before."

"Hmm?" the headmaster replied with a brow raised. "I did no such thing."

He adjusted his hat with a frown. "Then who-"

Opher and Ozpin came to the same conclusion at the same time and even vocalized it as one. "Ironwood."

"I suppose it's his way of apologizing," Ozpin added a moment later. "Ah, well. No harm done. Have you given any thought to our prospective go-between?"

He gave it some right then, about five or so seconds' worth. Opher ended up with no answer and a shrug. "I don't really know anyone here besides Indigo, and I'd rather keep her out of it."

"Understood." For a moment, Pyrrha caught Ozpin's eye. "But you are familiar with Miss Nikos and Miss Xiao Long, at least." He smiled when the redhead looked over after hearing her name. "Of the two, which would you pick?"

To Opher, both choices were equally bad for different reasons. "You cannot be serious. Yang gets on my nerves, and Pyrrha started this whole _mess_ to begin with!"

Pyrrha overheard this and couldn't stop herself from apologizing. "I'm sorry?" she said with a nervous smile.

Opher wondered, just for an instant, what she'd think if she knew the whole truth. He dismissed that picture with a frown and turned his attention back to Ozpin. "Maybe it should be someone with some authority? I mean, preferably someone who isn't Ironwood."

"All options are on the table. I'm simply throwing out ideas. That's not the only reason I wished to speak with you, however." Ozpin looked past him and at Team JNPR. "JNPR, please step forward."

"Oh!" Jaune exclaimed. He scrambled ahead of his team and stood on Opher's right side. "Uh… we didn't do it?"

Ozpin chuckled faintly. "I'm not here to dole out any detention, Mister Arc. I only wish to gauge your interest in an extra credit assignment."

Jaune glanced over as Opher separated himself from the conversation and walked off toward the windows. "I dunno. Our grades are fine. Right, guys?"

"Aren't we literally the worst team in like _every_ class?" Nora asked herself. "I mean, Pyrrha's pretty good. Me and Ren are excellent all the time." Her face went blank as she stared at her leader. "Maaaaaybe it's not the team, huh?"

He rubbed his eyes with a sigh. "I'm trying so hard, Nora. Please stop making me sad."

"I'm just sayin'!" She squeaked as Pyrrha gave her a firm tap on the head.

"Tell us about the extra credit," Jaune said forlornly, his eyes still hidden.

Ozpin clasped his hands on his desk and looked to Opher. "It depends on Mister Riese's participation."

"What?" Opher turned to stare at him. "How could this have anything to do with me?"

The headmaster put on a faint smile. "I would simply like a proper look at what I'm dealing with while minimizing the risk of anyone getting injured. Miss Schnee mentioned overhearing that you had Hunter experience. Let's see what you've got."

Opher tilted his head and gestured to JNPR. "You want me to fight them?" He smirked when all of them stepped back with their hands raised, save for Nora, who twirled Magnhild into its hammer form with a grin. "Three out of four say no."

"Certainly not." Ozpin paused long enough to let Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren deflate with relieved sighs. "They will be on standby to assist you, should you need it, while you're in the Emerald Forest."

Pyrrha considered this for a moment and blinked. "You want to send him to the examination grounds?"

"Yes, though there will be no relic to retrieve. As I said, I'm just curious to see him in action in places that _aren't_ the city of Vale." After a sip of coffee, Ozpin rose to stretch his legs. "All of this is, of course, contingent on what Mister Riese wishes to do."

Everyone present regarded him expectantly. Opher, caught off-guard, rubbed his neck with a frown. "I don't think you'd be ready for what you saw," he stated flatly.

Jaune loosed a nervous laugh. "Oh man. That's not scary at all."

"A lot scarier for me than you." Opher turned back to the windows, eying the sunset's glow as it fell upon Beacon and Vale far below. "Who else would be involved with this whole… thing?"

His request only fed into Ozpin's suspicions about his Aura, but those would only go so far. He needed concrete proof to either assuage or confirm his fears. "If you are worried about your secret, I assure you I will be most judicious with whatever I learn. That is the best I can promise you." He looked to Team JNPR. "As will you, am I correct?"

"Absolutely!" Jaune assured him with a nod. "Does that get us more extra credit points, by the way?"

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Opher doffed his hat briefly to scratch his head. "I did promise myself I'd stop running," he murmured.

"No rush, Mister Riese," Ozpin informed him quietly. The headmaster's curiosity had only been stoked by the exchange, but he knew better than to get pushy.

"You know what? Fuck it. Let's go." Opher glanced at each member of JNPR with a smirk. "Right now. I've got work tomorrow and I'm not gonna be late because of this."

"Wait, like, _now_ now?" Jaune asked as Opher started walking. "Seriously?"

"Yes, now," he confirmed, waving them after him. "Come on."

"I'll have Glynda meet you at the launch pads," Ozpin called. He exchanged his mug for his Scroll and tapped on the screen.

"This is gonna be great!" Nora chirped as they all crowded into the elevator. "Remember the last time we were out there? Wasn't it fun? I mean, I had a blast."

"Yes," Pyrrha replied with a forced smile. "Quite..." She noticed that Jaune and Ren had similar expressions. "...erm, fun."

"Oh, relax. If everything goes right, you won't even need to raise your weapons," Opher assured them.

A horrified Jaune whirled on him. "If?! Why is there an 'if'?! What could go wrong?"

"What _could_ go wrong?" Opher rolled his eyes in thought, then decided on brutal honesty. "Everything."

"Oh." Jaune, now pallid, turned away. "You're the least reassuring person I've ever met."

Fifteen minutes later, Opher found himself wearing his first piece of jewelry: a stainless steel bracelet with a built-in tracking device. As he stood with Team JNPR on the cliff above the Emerald Forest, Glynda calibrated the signal. "Mister Arc," she said, "Is your Scroll receiving?"

He checked his screen. While there was no map for this particular area, it did show a flashing green dot in the center. "Uh… is that it?"

Glynda leaned over and checked. "Yes. Good. This will display Mister Riese's location relative to yours."

"Cool, right. Got it." Jaune furrowed his brow at the compass bearings around the edge of the screen. "Pyrrha, I'm gonna let you hold this."

"Well, all right." She took the Scroll as Glynda began to leave. "Ma'am, wouldn't it be better if you were around as well? In case things go…" she trailed off in search of a good term, "...sideways?"

Glynda didn't even bother looking at her as she shook her head. "Professor Ozpin specifically instructed me to stay out of this. Good luck."

Opher strolled toward the cliff's edge. "You four can hang around up here, I guess. I'll yell or something if I need help."

"Wait, you can't just jump!" Pyrrha shouted with terror. "You have no way to slow yourself down!"

Her concern only made him smirk. "Oh, you haven't seen me do this yet, have you?" With one hand on his head to keep his hat on, he unleashed a burst of air that launched him into the sky.

"He can fly!" an amazed Jaune squealed. "I wanna fly!" He cupped his hands around his mouth to scream after Opher. "Teach me your secrets, scary flying man!"

"Whoaaaa." Nora watched Opher curve down into the forest, only to skip off of seemingly nothing as he leveraged more wind Dust. "I bet I could do that with my baby!"

"Magnhild isn't the answer to everything," Ren advised her with a faint smile.

"Well, duh. Pancakes are the answer to everything."

"Ah, back on task? I'm not sure I feel comfortable just leaving Opher down there alone." Scroll in hand, Pyrrha watched his green dot race away from them and travel southeast. "If he ends up in trouble, we might not get to him in time."

"Ooo, yeah. And if he dies we're probably not gonna get the extra credit, huh?" Jaune retreated a few steps in the face of Pyrrha's angry stare. "Kidding! Kidding! Come on." He motioned them over to the pads. "I'm with Pyrrha. We'd better follow him."


	10. Chapter 10

Intermittent birdsong filled the Emerald Forest as JNPR pursued Opher. Pyrrha and Jaune, having the largest bladed weapons, were up front to cut through the undergrowth. Ren held the latter's Scroll to keep tabs on Opher's position while Nora protected their rear. "Straight ahead. Long way, though," Ren advised. "Keep going."

"Where do you think he ended up?" a breathless Jaune asked between slashes. "I have never hated vines so much in my life."

"Perhaps he saw the temple from the air?" Pyrrha replied. "It's just about the only landmark in this valley besides the ruins."

Jaune squinted with disdain. "Oh, sure. He finds the thing in five minutes and it took us like, three hours. I'm not leaving until he teaches us how to fly."

Nora did a cheerful little dance as she walked. "I already know how to fly! Kinda. Close enough. That guy doesn't even blow up anything when he does it. Soooo boring."

"His name is Opher." Pyrrha rolled her eyes despite expecting Nora's giggle. "Ren, is he still on the move?"

"No." There remained a considerable distance between them and Opher, however. Ren moved up to show Jaune and Pyrrha. "About a mile ahead now."

"Great. Oh well, at least we haven't seen any-" Jaune stopped short of finishing his sentence as they pushed through a large row of bushes and stumbled upon three Ursa Major wandering through the trees. Instead of saying anything else, he firmly shoved Pyrrha back through the shrubbery and followed right behind her. She bumped into Ren and Nora; thankfully, both managed to remain quiet.

"Well," the redhead muttered, "That's a problem."

"Problem? More like fun," Nora whispered enthusiastically.

"We need a plan." Jaune peeked over the hedges. All three Ursae were heading away through the forest. "Wait. I think they're headed in the same direction we are."

Pyrrha had her eye on the Grimm as well. "Toward Opher? Shouldn't we stop them?"

"Probably…" Jaune glanced over at Ren and Nora with a thoughtful frown. "Me and Pyrrha-"

"Pyrrha and I," she corrected him.

He peered at her for an instant. "Not now. We can probably take two of 'em without too much trouble. Ren, get high and sneaky. Nora… kill whichever one we're not fighting. Or, you know, all of them. But don't drop in until we have their attention, okay?"

Nora folded Magnhild into its grenade launcher form and winked. "Got it. We'll be right back!" She and Ren scrambled up into the trees while Jaune allowed his shield to expand.

"Ready?" he asked with an anxious grin.

Her smile back at him was far more confident. "We'll be fine. Your strategy is sound."

"I'm glad one of us thinks so." Jaune sucked in a lungful of air and let it all out with a fierce yell as he burst through the shrubs. The Grimm turned on him immediately. "Pyrrha! The one on the right!" he shouted, bracing himself behind his shield for the incoming blow.

Pyrrha was in much the same stance. "Yes!" While she used Akoúo̱ to bounce the Ursa's vicious strike without too much effort, it was clear from Jaune's unhappy yelling that he wasn't having the same success. "Jaune?" she called, barely able to look over her shoulder as her opponent kept striking.

"Reeeeen! Noraaaaaaaaa!" he shrieked, using his shield more like an umbrella than anything else. The Ursa continued to get in his face with claws flying, forcing him to retreat. Even worse, he noticed the third Grimm was headed his way. "Do something! Nora! Smashies! Smashies right now!"

Ren dropped from almost directly above, sinking StormFlower's blades into the Ursa's back. As it raised up, roaring in pain, Jaune charged and sank his blade into its throat. It didn't even have time to hit the ground before both disengaged and picked up new targets. While Ren sprayed the unoccupied Ursa with bullets, Nora pelted it from the trees with grenades.

Jaune's arrival gave Pyrrha a welcome breather; while he got low and braced with his shield against the Ursa's charge, she spun Miló into its shortsword form and struck several blows against its unprotected side. When it turned on her, Jaune took over the stabbing while Pyrrha used Akoúo̱ for cover. After two cycles of this, he finished it off with a sword to the eye. "Well done!" Pyrrha said, turning to the final Ursa. "Let's wrap this up."

This one focused its rage on Ren, who proved too fast to hit. He darted effortlessly from side to side, ducking under its swipes, until Nora dropped from the trees to deliver a mighty blow to the back of its neck with Magnhild. Even Pyrrha had to wince at the sharp crack.

Nora examined her handiwork as the dust settled. "I don't think I've ever heard one make a sound like _that_ before," she said with a grin.

"Yeah," Jaune gasped between breaths. "Good-" He paused and hunched over with his hands on his knees. "Just a sec. Lungs… not working."

While she was sympathetic to his plight, Pyrrha urged Jaune up with a hand. "We just made a _lot_ of noise. It's time to move."

"I know. Scroll please," Jaune said with a gesture toward Ren. Once he had it, he turned it round and round until he could figure out which way was west. "Okay, so…" he trailed off, looking toward an area where the trees thinned out, "...that way. JNPR, charge!"

"Wheeee!" Nora yelled, shedding all pretense of stealth and blasting herself ahead on shots from Magnhild.

"Just because we made some noise doesn't mean you can make _all_ of the noise!" Jaune yelled as he sprinted after her.

"Nora, wait!" Ren added with an outstretched hand.

They pursued Nora through the meadow toward another sizable clump of trees. While she'd stopped using Magnhild as propulsion, her considerable head start lengthened the pursuit. Pyrrha was the first to catch her, but only because Nora pulled up in a small stand of pines. Something in another clearing beyond had her attention. "Please don't run off," Pyrrha requested breathlessly on arrival. "There could be Grimm everywhere, we have to-" Nora suddenly pointed ahead, robbing her ability to finish the sentence. "What?"

Jaune and Ren arrived just as Pyrrha saw what brought Nora to a halt. Scattered through the clearing were several Grimm, mostly Beowolves of varying sizes, and one Death Stalker. Oddly, none of them appeared to be moving. Even stranger, all of the creatures appeared to be facing in roughly the same direction. The whole horde stood like statues in a park, motionless. "What are they _doing_?" Jaune asked quietly.

Pyrrha stood rigidly, so afraid of making noise she manually regulated her breaths. "As long as they're not noticing us, I'm not sure I care."

"Good poi-oh. Crap," Jaune cursed lowly, noting the position of Opher's signal on his Scroll. "Guys, he's over there with them." An abrupt breeze startled him into retreating. "Back into the trees. We need a plan."

Horror creeped into Pyrrha's eyes. "A plan? We need a professor."

Ren took a look at Jaune's Scroll as they carefully made their way back into cover. "Opher hasn't moved in a while," he noted grimly.

Nora's grip on Magnhild was so firm it turned her knuckles white. "A-are we in trouble?" she asked, taking up a lookout position while her team huddled near a tree trunk.

"What are we supposed to do?" Jaune looked to Pyrrha for guidance and found only barely-restrained panic on her face. Her distress made up his mind for him. "Forget it. We gotta bug out. I mean… there's nothing we can do with that many Grimm around."

"This is all my fault," the redhead whispered to herself. Jaune's order didn't register for two or three seconds; she looked over at him with hopeless resignation. "We're going to abandon him?"

Ren gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Jaune is right. There's nothing we can do now."

"Oh, hey, there he is."

Jaune looked up at Nora after she spoke. "Uh, what?" Nora simply pointed again; he stood and joined her to figure out what was going on. The sight of an unharmed Opher, strolling along on the outer edge of the cluster of Grimm, left him utterly speechless. Pyrrha and Ren joined him a moment later, though neither had any luck finding words for the sight either.

Nora, as she often did, broke the silence. "He looks pretty good for a dead guy."

"W-why aren't they attacking?" Pyrrha noticed on closer inspection that the some of the Grimm appeared to be slumped oddly, as if something unseen held them upright. Little wisps of black vapor left their bodies and faded in the breeze. "Hold on…"

Opher noticed them and waved over with a smirk. "You don't have to hide," he called. "They're all dead."

Jaune found his voice again as he started moving. " _How_!?" The answer became apparent the closer he and his team got. Hidden by the shadows of their corpses were pillars of ice. Each of the creatures was impaled upon at least one. The larger Grimm had two or three jutting into their undersides. "You… but…" Jaune found it impossible to resolve the sheer number of Grimm with the outcome in front of his eyes. "H-how?"

"Trust me, it was a lot easier than it looks." Opher glanced over his shoulder at the forest behind him. "I found some cameras back there. Ozpin must be watching us." He regarded JNPR's varying levels of amazement with another smirk. "What? Never seen dead Grimm before?"

Pyrrha was at just as much of a loss as Jaune. "I don't… I don't understand," she said, unable to tear her gaze away from the scene.

"Let's just say I wasn't as rusty as I thought." Opher stretched his arms above his head and walked off in direction of the cliffs. "I guess you were the ones making all that noise a few minutes ago, huh?"

"Yeah, that was us. Had a little fight ourselves. No big deal. You know how it goes." Jaune's bravado fell by the wayside when he remembered the effort spent on killing three Ursae, then compared it to the apparent lack of Opher had needed to win his own fight. It forced a weak chuckle from his lips. "Hunter problems, right?"

"He's not even sweaty," Nora pointed out.

Jaune's face went blank. "I know, Nora."

"Or breathing hard," Ren added.

Now his brow was furrowed. "I _know_ , Ren."

Nora just couldn't let it go, however. "He even did it barehanded! That's like-"

"Nora, if you still like stuffing your face full of pancakes, I suggest you shut it now," Jaune warned, fists clenched with disdain.

She leaned on Magnhild with a grumpy sigh. "Geez. I'm just saying."

Pyrrha, too bewildered for words, watched Opher wander away in silence. Even if she knew what to say, the sudden, brief shadow that covered their little section of the forest wouldn't have given her a chance say it. Opher not only noticed the shadow, but turned around before JNPR could even agree on which direction to look. His gaze was aimed skyward, where it met the glowing crimson eyes of an oncoming juvenile Nevermore. Its talons were already extended for an attack.

"Nevermore!" was all Jaune could scream before a mighty gust of wind blew him and the rest of his team off to the side and into the trees.

Opher, his right arm extended, was responsible for their abrupt trip. The Nevermore shook the ground with its landing, but didn't move to attack. It only hopped around in search of something. He moved toward it on calm strides. Creature and Hunter locked eyes again briefly, but the Nevermore ignored Opher while looking for the prey it had lost.

Pyrrha was the first of her team to stand up; almost too confused to be fearful, she tried subtly gesturing at Opher to get his attention. He paid her no mind and approached the Grimm, eventually drawing so close to the Nevermore that he was able to put his right hand on its beak. That made it stop looking anywhere else but at him. Still, it did not peck or claw. It only gazed blankly. Opher lit a blue flame around his left hand and brought it up. A similar fire engulfed his other fingers. The Nevermore recoiled in response to the heat; it managed one flap of its broad wings before Opher drove his fiery fists into its eye sockets. Those thrusts went elbow-deep before spastic jerks from the monster forced him to extract his hands and step back.

As the dying Grimm flopped around, he spun on his heel and walked toward his escort, who were all standing up by now. "I think we're good," he advised. "Can we go now? I'd like to get out of here and grab dinner." Their slack-jawed stares made him roll his eyes. "What? I know you've seen blood by now."

Their continued silence forced Opher to look viscera-covered arms and realize how grotesque he looked. "Oh. Right." As Jaune and his team tried to collect themselves, he unleashed a stream of water from his hands, as well as a spiraling wind to force the liquid up and down his forearms. The sticky mess detached from his skin with a series of sickening plops.

Then Opher walked away without a word. Pyrrha, after a few seconds, managed to stammer out what the rest of her team was thinking. "W-what just happened?"

* * *

 Opher had been correct about the existence of other witnesses, though it wasn't just Ozpin who had been monitoring his progress. A dumbstruck Glynda set her open Scroll down on Ozpin's desk and walked away. Like Pyrrha, she had been rendered speechless.

"This is a problem," the headmaster stated, not too amazed to keep an eye on the bigger picture. "His Aura is so compressed that the Grimm don't even recognize him as human."

His assessment gave Glynda something to think, and speak, about. "It certainly appears that way," she said. "Not a claw, paw, or stinger lifted in anger."

Ozpin, hands clasped, lounged back in his chair. "Indeed. Opher may have been a Huntsman once, but clearly something else has happened to him."

Glynda had to nod in agreement. "That's an understatement. Who on Remnant has the ability to do _this_?"

He looked at her over the rims of his glasses. "Besides Atlas?"

Unable to stand his gaze for long, Glynda peered through the windows. "They signed the treaty. All of the kingdoms signed it."

"Eighty years is a long time to resist the call of that sort of power," he countered quietly. "I trust James absolutely, but there are a few radical thinkers under his command."

Glynda dismissed this with a frown as she retrieved her Scroll. "Granted, but as tight a grip as he maintains on his troops? If something were going on, he'd know." Her eyes suddenly widened in thought. "Besides, he was just as surprised as we were about Riese's Aura. The man isn't a terribly good actor."

That earned her a subtle nod. "Which is why I wonder if someone is hiding something from _all_ of us. I suppose I have no choice but to let James know what's happened." Ozpin glanced down at his own Scroll to check the video feed. JNPR and Opher were just arriving at the top of the cliffs. "They're on their way. Meet them when they return to campus, would you? I suspect JNPR has… questions."

Glynda pursed her lips and made for the elevator. "They're not the only ones."

Opher saw no need to hang around; in fact, he had barely gotten back to Beacon's campus when he broke away from JNPR without a goodbye. All he wanted to do was give back the tracking bracelet and leave. He knew there was no chance it would be that simple, of course. The look on Glynda's face when she noticed him in the courtyard reinforced that reality.

"If you're looking for the kids, they went back to their dorm," he advised as Glynda drew near. The bracelet was already off and in his other hand. "You want this back, right?"

"Yes, thank you." She took it and tapped the blinking light to turn it off. "As you can imagine, we are..." The presence of students walking by silenced her briefly. "...a bit perplexed about what we've seen."

Opher adjusted his hat with a wry smile. "I'm not surprised. I've got a question myself, though."

She glanced down at him as they started walking. "What would that be?"

His smile suddenly vanished into thin air. "The way I figure it, Ozpin sent JNPR with me because he thought I'd show off for an audience, _or_ he figured they'd be just incompetent enough to need saving. Which was it? Was it both?"

Glynda was so taken aback by his words that she came to a halt. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Why _else_ would he send them? I mean, I heard Jaune screaming for miles," he stated evenly. "Even Yang's team has to be more combat ready than they are."

Instead of grappling for an answer, Glynda deflected his concerns. "You will have to bring the Professor's reasoning up with him."

"Heh. I already know why." Opher tugged at his hat once more and turned away. "It was a trust-building exercise. Anyway, we're done, right? I'm hungry."

"You are welcome to eat here." Glynda indicated the dining hall to their right with a nod. "No special ID is necessary."

He only regarded the building for a second. "I feel like you're trying to keep me around." That Glynda was tapping on her Scroll when he glanced back made him a bit suspicious. His stomach emitted an obnoxious grumble. "Then again… fine," he decided after checking his own device for the time. "It is the closest place, I guess."

Glynda moved quickly now that she'd bought some time. "Very well. I'd better go speak with Team JNPR."

"Yeah," Opher said with a wave as he turned away, "Good luck with that."

The interior of the hall bustled with students as he walked in; no surprise, given the hour. Students from every Academy were present, though Beacon uniforms dominated the crowd. Some weren't in any uniform at all. Amongst this crowd was the impossible to miss Ruby Rose and her team. Her red cloak stood out like a lighthouse. She wasn't the first to notice him walking nearer, however. "Hey, Gopher!" Yang shouted with a friendly wave. Then she winced. "Oops."

Against his better judgment, Opher decided to wander over toward their table. "Are you _ever_ going to stop calling me that?" he asked sourly.

She offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I wasn't kidding about the reflex thing. It just _happens_."

"So I've noticed." Opher's eyes went to Blake for a moment. She regarded his presence with an uncertain glance, but said nothing. Then he looked at the trays of food as he tried to figure out what he might want for dinner. "Huh. They've got tilapia?" he remarked, noting the fish on Blake's tray. "Fancy."

"Sometimes," she replied cooly. "What are you doing here?"

Before answering this, Opher checked the crowd for Emerald's pale green hair. "Ozpin wanted to see me," he explained, once he was certain the thief was elsewhere.

"Oh, yeah," Yang blurted out around a mouthful of chicken. "What's going on with that stuff?"

His green eyes rolled a few times while he chose how much information to mete out. "Oh, just a little hunting in the Emerald Forest. Pyrrha and company tagged along."

Ruby perked up a bit and looked over. "Oh, how did they do?" Her face went blank. "Are they okay?"

Opher cracked a grin. "They're fine. I didn't need their help." His brow furrowed a bit. "Jaune… is a real screamer."

Ruby, Yang and Weiss all nodded in agreement; Blake, however, had nodded off with her chin in her hand. "World's out here, sleepyhead," Yang said, elbowing Blake's arm gently.

Her partner didn't appreciate the wake-up call. "Stop that," she groaned, rubbing at her sunken eyes.

Yang's smile only brightened. "Don't you get grumpy with me, young lady."

"How many Grimm did you find?" Ruby asked, seizing on the part of the conversation that held her interest. "Did Nora do that thing with Magnhild where she shoots grenades and rides it around? She does it all the time. Makes me so mad."

Her jealous pouting made Opher smirk. "I wouldn't know. Didn't see them until just before we came back. And, yeah, I found a few Grimm to slay."

Yang continued to talk with her mouth full, ignoring Weiss' silent disgust at her lack of decorum. "Cool. How many?"

The conversation was beginning to grow dull for him. "A lot," he said, already starting to walk away.

"Aw, come on," Yang countered with a grin. "Don't leave us hanging."

Opher denied her without even glancing back. "I don't want to bruise anyone's ego." A buffet table lay ahead; he barely heard Yang speak again as he examined it contents. "Hmm…"

Just as he reached the spread, however, a quick-moving Glynda caught his eye. She was heading his way. "Mister Riese," she called over the general din of the students. "Would you come with me, please?"

"Damn it," he muttered, a hand on his unhappy stomach. Despite his hunger, he reluctantly followed her out the nearest set of doors. "What now?" It didn't take long before Opher noticed they were moving back toward the administration building. His expression grew dark. "Not this again."

Glynda flipped a few errant strands of hair back over her shoulder. "I apologize, but Professor Ozpin couldn't stifle General Ironwood's curiosity any longer."

The annoyance in Opher's eyes became anger. "And it keeps getting better. Ozpin told him, didn't he?"

"After what we saw? He had no choice."

"And he couldn't wait like, ten minutes? I'm fucking hungry," Opher growled with a longing gaze back at the dining hall.

Glynda sneaked a peek at him. "Actually, the the Professor already thought of that."

* * *

 Opher only found out what she meant after the elevator ride up to Ozpin's office. Both General and headmaster were in the middle of eating. "Oh, there you are," Ironwood said as he waved them over. "Ozpin had the kitchen bring up a few things. Take your pick."

On one hand, it was nice to see Ironwood acting tactfully. On the other, it still made Opher deeply suspicious. "Oh, I am. I'm sure as hell not gonna deal with you on an empty stomach." He grabbed a sandwich, not really caring what sort it was, and took a bite.

Ozpin, keen to avoid a display like last time, took charge of the meeting. "Mister Riese, have you ever heard of the term 'Aura compression'?"

Opher smiled to himself with the one emotion no one expected, nor could explain: relief. Noticing he'd been caught, he quickly issued a cough, then a lie. "Nah. Sounds painful." He hastily crammed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.

Ironwood clearly wasn't buying his denial, but he watched Opher pluck another sandwich from the platter in silence.

Ozpin noticed too, but opted to file it away and proceed with an explanation. "Bombard a soul with enough Dust and it will collapse upon itself. Assuming you don't kill the person first, they receive a significant power boost when new Aura forms to fill the gap."

"Would you mind showing your Aura to us again? Or is it tied to your emotional state?" Ironwood asked after a moment.

Before the disdain on Opher's face could become anger, Ozpin intervened. "We simply wish to see it, Mister Riese. Nothing more."

"Do anything funny and I swear to god I'll throw myself out of this tower." Opher held his sandwich out in front of him, only to let it go. It did not fall.

"Telekinesis?" Glynda wondered out loud. The word was hardly out of her mouth before Opher's ashen Aura flared up into view. That essence, via a twisted, spiraling arm, was what suspended his food. The rest clung to his body in a soupy fog. "Apparently not."

"Yeah, it's dense enough to hold stuff." He took the sandwich away from himself to continue eating. As he took a bite, his Aura went through several iterations of shape before settling on the double shadow Pyrrha had seen that night on his apartment rooftop. He made a face when Glynda tapped it curiously with an unseen force Opher could only feel. His Aura literally pointed it out as he looked for the source. "Oh. Stop poking me with your brain."

"It's… solid?" she breathed in confusion.

Ironwood examined it as well, though he remained seated. The way Opher's Aura twitched made his eyebrows raise. "I don't believe I've ever seen an Aura that squirms so much."

"Are we not all restless on occasion?" Things were calm enough for Ozpin to try and cut to the heart of the matter. He took a sip of coffee first. "Let me get to the point: that is _not_ what a natural Aura should look like for someone your age. We are very keen to learn how you became this way."

The headmaster received a dour look for his initiative. "Oh, I bet you are." Opher cast another glance at the sunset outside. "But you have a point. I'm not exactly normal."

Glynda's eyes lit up. She produced her Scroll and tapped away on the screen until the faint sound of speaking emanated from it. "You mentioned something to Miss Nikos in the lobby… ah, here we are. She looked like someone you knew. And then you said-"

Opher raised a hand to silence her. Carmine's tattered memory, amongst others, brought a heavy scowl to his face. "A dead friend, yeah. One of many." His gaze became distant. The more lost in those memories he became, the less visible his Aura got until it completely faded from view.

Ironwood stood and walked toward him with slow, deliberate steps. "If this was forced upon you, we will bring those responsible to justice. You have my word. Just point us in the right direction."

That platitude turned his frown into a hollow smirk. "You know, you're being awfully nice to me all of a sudden." Opher turned his back on Ironwood to stare at the evening sky. "I'm so fucked up that even the Grimm don't know what to do with me. It scares you, doesn't it?"

Glynda moved up to stand with Ironwood. "We're more concerned about the implications. Who did this to you? How?"

"How do you know it wasn't him?" Opher blurted out, nailing down Ironwood with a glare. "I've read my history books."

The General folded his arms and stood firm. "Mantle paid for its transgressions eighty years ago. Aura compression is strictly forbidden by the Treaty of Vytal. That's why it's imperative we know who did this to you."

Opher snorted at him and looked back to Ozpin. "And that treaty is exactly why I can't tell you."

"What do you mean?" Glynda asked, shifting all her weight to one hip.

A flick of his wrist and the gust of wind that accompanied it brought Opher another sandwich. If he noticed the stark surprise on their faces at that action, he didn't call them on it. "I get it now. Everyone's on edge about something and you think I'm part of it." Nobody would respond to his accusation; their silence was proof enough. He let out a little chuckle. "I was right. That explains why you brought your fleet with you."

Ironwood tried to brush that aside. "Every kingdom contributes to the security of the Vytal Festival based on their ability."

Opher snorted again and finished off his sandwich. "Whatever. I've got good news: I'm not the product of some vast conspiracy you're gonna need to lose sleep over. I mean, your plates are probably full enough."

"Mister Riese, we'd appreciate it if you'd stop being so evasive," a stern-looking Ozpin demanded. "Someone compressed your Aura. We must stop them from doing it to others."

"Oh, man," Opher muttered, stifling a chuckle, "if you think _people_ did this to me, you're giving humans way too much credit."

"There's no other way it could have happened!" Ironwood snapped, having finally lost his patience.

All his anger did was make Opher chuckle once more. "And that's the mindset you get when you've been trapped behind city walls for too long. Your thinking gets chained down by absolutes." He adjusted his hat and started for the elevator. "I'm going home. You know where to find me if you want to chat some more." But as he reached the door, he turned to gaze at all three of them. "Don't bother me at work. That's all I ask."

Ironwood opened his mouth to speak again, but Ozpin beat him to the punch. "Very well, Mister Riese. We'll be in touch."

Once the elevator doors were shut, the General turned on Ozpin with an incredulous stare. "And we're just going to let him leave? We know nothing about what's going on!"

Another sip of coffee was in order before he replied. "I suggest we fight the enemies we know for now. There are more pressing matters."

Glynda had been giving the problem some thought even before Opher's departure. "He seemed willing to confide in Miss Nikos," she noted quietly. "Let's have her keep an eye on him while we handle… the other problems."

"Hmm. You have a point." Ozpin reached for his Scroll and tapped on it to send out an automated message over the campus public address system. "If nothing else, she'll let us know if something is amiss."

* * *

 "Hey, new guy! Catch!"

"Wait, catch wh-" Opher had barely gotten the back door of Diamond Dust open when a black object flew through the air at his face. He snatched it down with his left hand and, after a breath, found it was a pistol. "Good morning to you too, Indigo," he said, turning the weapon over to examine it.

The way he held it made Indigo cringe. "Get your finger off the trigger, dumbass!" she ordered loudly. "First rule of gun safety: you don't touch the trigger unless you're about to shoot somebody!"

Opher gazed at her with surprise. "You threw a _loaded_ gun at me?"

"Of course not! But you don't _know_ whether a weapon is loaded or not. Put your finger on the trigger guard." She nodded approvingly as he obeyed. "Good boy. What do you think about it?"

"It's…" He looked down at the gun once more. "It's very pistol-y."

Indigo's face went blank with shock. "Oh my god. You've literally never fired a gun before, have you?"

"I told you that yesterday," he said, gently setting the weapon on a nearby shelf. His face screwed up when she started laughing. "What?"

"I was wrong. Huntsman or not, this is still gonna be hilarious." She waved him toward the main floor. "Come on. A lotta tournament participants are arriving in Vale today. Maybe they'll wanna spend some money here."

He followed, pausing briefly to deposit his hat on the rack. "Indigo, the people that _live_ in Vale don't even want to spend money here." Another object flew at Opher's face: her empty coffee cup. He caught it and dropped it into the trash can. "Okay. I deserved that."

Her ochre eyes glittered with annoyance. "Yes you did. Now get behind the register."

But once he was settled in, Indigo noted an unusual distance in Opher's expression. She wasn't sure how to address it. As the morning crawled on and customers trickled in, she decided it could wait until lunch hour struck. As the time approached, however, Indigo was the one that acted increasingly awkward.

"What's the matter with you?" Opher finally had to ask, noting how much she toyed with her ponytail. "Use the wrong shampoo this morning?"

She snorted at his joke. "No. You, uh, just seem a little off today."

He blinked at this. "I do?"

"Yeah. Like something's on your mind."

"Eh." Opher avoided her eyes by pretending to do something with the register. "It's nothing." Nothing he hadn't dealt with before. Then again, he asked himself, what was the harm of letting her in on a little bit of it? "I'm just missing some people lately."

Indigo crossed her arms with a frown. Her mind immediately went to the worst possibility. "Oh. Is it a Hunter thing? I've been there. Not all of my buddies made it home either."

Opher leaned on the counter with a sigh. "It's a little more than that."

"Oh." She was willing to push no further. "Sucks, doesn't it? Uh… sorry. I'm not good at this shit."

"Don't worry about me. I'm used to it," he assured her, plopping his hand on the top of her head and chuckling when she smacked it off. "Aren't you going to lunch?"

They both looked outside at the throngs of people flooding the sidewalk. "Guess so. God, what a crowd. If I don't make it back, I'm leaving the shop to Schwarze," Indigo said with a smirk. "I better just go across the street. You got this?"

"Of course I have this. Good luck." Opher watched her depart and almost instantly lost her in the crowd. If the shop had been quiet before, it was like a tomb now. The silence made him frown. "Nngh." There wasn't even anything around to busy himself with. Out of options, Opher wandered into the back and stared at the pistol on the shelf. He searched his tattoos for a specific set of symbols and grinned. "How much fun would you have had with these things, mom? Dad would-"

A cheerful ding broke his reverie. Opher walked out to greet the customer and found Pyrrha standing in front of the counter. "Good afternoon!" she said with a broad, anxious smile. "Oh. I see you were left behind again."

"Just like every other day." By this point he'd put two and two together and was eying her with displeasure. "First, I told them not to bother me about this shit at work. Second, I can't believe they're making you be my babysitter."

"It's not like that. Professor Ozpin just decided that I would be the most appropriate person, since I'm the one who first brought it up." Pyrrha replied, her smile even more anxious than before. "I… I'm sorry. This is all my fault. A Scroll call didn't seem appropriate. That's why I came to apologize in person. And the professor wanted us to have at least one face-to-face meeting anyway, so I-"

Annoyed, Opher rapped his fingertips against the glass. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. How thoughtful of you. Is saying sorry the main reason you dropped by?"

The redhead screwed up her courage and stood straight. "It wasn't the only one, no. Why didn't that Nevermore attack you? Does it have something to do with your Aura?"

"Not talking about that here," he replied simply.

Unlike her superiors, Pyrrha actually respected this denial on the first go. "All right. I understand. Well, I'd better-" The ringing of the door chime made both of them look over.

It was a grumbling Indigo coming in. "I forgot my damn Scr-" She froze stiff upon seeing Pyrrha at the counter. "Wh… what…"

"Oh, ah, hello?" the redhead said with a tiny wave. "You must be Indigo." She then deployed her prepared excuse. "Yang told me about you. Since I was going to be in town anyway, she wanted me to ask when you'd be getting more of Ember Celica's ammunition in stock." Pyrrha watched with confusion as Indigo hid behind one of the floor shelves. "Um…?"

"You're Pyrrha Nikos!" she squeaked.

Her face went blank as Opher started laughing. "Yes. I am."

Indigo's eyes were the size of saucers. "Would you sign my rifle?"

"Oh my god," Opher gasped between chortles. "My day just got _so_ much better."


	11. Chapter 11

While the rest of Vale seemed more antsy and excited with every day that passed, for Opher things were actually quite calm. Cinder had kept her end of the bargain; for the past two days, no one bothered him or Indigo. In fact, not even Ozpin had requested another audience. The only chore he needed to deal with was Pyrrha's morning check-up call.

Today's edition, as usual, came at 8:30 AM on the dot. "Good morning, Opher," the redhead said pleasantly. A distant giggle followed her greeting. "Nora, please. It's not nice to laugh at his name."

Unlike her, Opher was still in the process of waking up. He looked over the edge of his bed in search of pants to wear. "Just as long as she doesn't start calling me Gopher," he muttered. Once he found the strength to sit up, he added, "Good news: I didn't kill anyone yesterday either."

"That's…" Pyrrha hesitated to find an appropriate word, "Good. That's good. Are you working today? Professor Ozpin would like to see you before the field missions start next week."

"Yeah. Hold on." Opher fiddled with his Scroll for a few seconds until the messaging app appeared. "I'll be in from ten until two this afternoon. He'll have to wait. I'm not coming up there beforehand. I don't want to be late getting back."

"I see. I'll let him know-ah, Jaune? What is it?"

Opher, head tilted, barely heard him say, "I wanna talk to him!"

There was muted resignation in Pyrrha's voice. "But... oh, all right."

"You touched a Grimm!" Jaune blurted out after a brief pause.

Opher's eyes narrowed; this was the third time he'd had this exchange with JNPR's leader. "Yes. I touched a Grimm. No, I'm not going to tell you how because it's none of your damn business. Put Pyrrha back on."

"You don't have to be such a jerk about it."

Already grumpy enough due to the early hour, Opher really let Jaune have it. "Jerk? I've been down this road with you three times and you still won't take the hint. Put Pyrrha back on!"

Another pause. Pyrrha's voice was indeed the next he heard. "By the way, he's a little mad you won't teach us how to fly."

"He'll get over it," Opher stated while rubbing his eyes. "Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of. You know how to-"

"Get in touch with you if anything happens. Yes. I do. Goodbye." Opher hung up and set the Scroll aside. "Carmine sure as hell wasn't as much of a worrier," he added lowly. Ringing made him look over. "What now?"

Fortunately, it was Indigo calling. "New guy! I've got good news and bad news. I mean, bad news for you. Maybe."

Relative to the last few days of his life, Opher doubted that anything Indigo threw his way would qualify as bad. "Hurray. What's the good news?" he asked, finally sliding out of bed.

"What if I told you you might be getting more than four hours of work today?"

He immediately knew something was off; Indigo's tone was far too pleasant to be talking about overtime that she'd be paying for herself. "I have a feeling there's an enormous catch, Indy," he said as he entered the bathroom, "But go ahead."

"Yang called me a few minutes ago. Said two of the chaperones for the dance at Beacon tonight had to cancel last-minute. I told her I'd be down to replace one of 'em. You want in?"

Opher stared into the mirror while processing this. "Hold on. You willingly agreed to chaperone a horde of teenagers for several hours?"

"Dude, the Academy's paying me _and_ there's free booze for the adults. You think I'm gonna pass that shit up?"

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "It suddenly all makes sense. I'm sorry, but the idea of being stuck in the same room as Yang for that long isn't very appealing."

"Aw, come on. I don't wanna go by myself!"

Opher lit a blue fire on the tip of his index finger and used that flame to burn off the stubble on his face. A protective cushion of gray Aura proceeded each stroke. "Then bring what's-her-name. Schwarze, isn't it?"

"No way. Sunday's the only day off she gives herself every week. Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't even ask." A flurry of grumbles from Indigo made him roll his eyes again. "If you don't want to go by yourself, then don't go. I don't see what's so difficult about that." As she kept grumbling, however, something clicked in his head. "Hold on a second. Are you kind-of sort-of asking me out?"

When Indigo hung up on him, Opher burst out laughing and couldn't stop even after his Scroll started to ring again. He barely managed to tap the screen to accept her call.

"Stop fucking laughing!" she demanded. Opher obeyed only because he was out of breath. "I know you've gotta need the money so I thought I'd throw you a bone, jackass."

"All right, all right," he said with a smirk. The flame on his finger had gone out, so he lit it back up and returned to shaving. "When do you need an answer?"

"By the time you leave the shop today would be nice."

Opher rubbed at his chin to check the closeness of his shave. "All right. I'll think about it. See you in a little bit."

"Yeah, yeah, new guy." And then she was gone again.

Initially, he decided there was no way he'd sign up for something so vapid and uninteresting. Then Opher remembered Indigo's encounter with Emerald. If the thief saw her alone on Beacon's campus, what might she do? What might her friends do? The prospect made him frown. "How stupid are these people?" he asked his reflection. "Surely they've learned their lesson by now."

While Cinder had kept her word, he couldn't be a hundred percent sure what might happen if Indigo showed up, saw Emerald, and realized she was her attacker. Jaw set with annoyance, he resigned himself to his fate. "Shit. I'm gonna be stuck with Yang Xiao Long for the night, aren't I?" He could already hear her nickname for him echoing through his mind. "Damn it."

* * *

"Festival atmosphere" wasn't quite the right term for what Opher was feeling on the streets of the city. Anticipation for the event, certainly; but thanks to Roman Torchwick's crime wave, there existed an element of uneasiness too. Ironwood's airships loomed above them all in the crisp morning air. Their presence made Opher narrow his eyes.

But he gave it no more thought as he stepped into Diamond Dust, because something more amusing was happening: Indigo, standing at the counter, wore her rifle for the third morning in a row. Pyrrha had indeed signed the weapon, right on the stock in silvery marker. "I can't believe you're still hugging that thing," he remarked on his way to the back.

Indigo clutched her rifle with a pout. "Hey, my dad's from Mistral. I spent my whole childhood hearing stories about the Nikos family."

"Did you squeal about them back then, too?" he asked loudly from the back room.

Her face turned red. "I didn't squeal! I just… I didn't know what to say to Pyrrha. Noises started comin' out of my mouth."

"Yes they did." Opher took up his usual station behind the register and grinned down at her. Indigo's glare did nothing to reduce his smiling. "Oh, about your offer for tonight-"

"Don't you start teasing me," she warned him, her eyes angry slits.

"I'm not. You're right. I do need the money. When should I be there?"

Indigo blinked with surprise. "Oh. Uh… dance starts at eight. Maybe an hour before then, I guess? I'll call Yang back at lunch and ask to be sure."

"Fine, fine." Their conversation had to end there as a customer arrived. "Welcome." Opher cocked his head when Indigo pulled a sheet of paper from her pants pocket. "What's that?"

"I spent last night working on a new slogan."

"Oh boy." Opher stared at the male customer with a frown. "I apologize for whatever you're about to hear."

"No no no, it's totally great. Listen." She cleared her throat authoritatively. "Welcome to Diamond Dust!" she said to the new arrival, "Where our prices are the real gem!"

"Huh, that's not bad," the customer admitted.

"Much better than the last one," Opher agreed. "I might even repeat it without wanting to bang my head on the counter." Two more people came through the door. "Wow. Nice crowd already." And then three more arrived. "Uh…"

Unlike their usual patrons, these customers wore relatively strange outfits. Most were armed, too, carrying all sorts of odd weapons. "Give me all your fire Dust!" one yelled. She was clad in a purple hoodie. Turquoise bangs curved up and over the right side of her head.

"No, Reese." The denial came from a dark-skinned, blonde-haired girl right beside her.

"B-b-but Arslan… all the crystals are so shiny..."

"Okay, okay, one at a time," Indigo said over the increasingly noisy crowd. "Be patient. I know the place is cramped. Just work with each other."

"And don't start any fights," Opher added with a smirk. "I don't want to have to bail my boss out of jail."

The crush kept going for three solid hours; so many people came and went that Indigo had to forego her usual lunch break to help Opher keep up with the crowd. It was up to her to grab new stock out of the back room and bring it out while Opher kept order out front. "And you wondered why I wanted to open today," she said, watching him sort a stack of Lien cards. " _Everybody_ is coming to Vale."

"Apparently so." Opher pressed one last button on the register and let out a sigh. "I'm so hungry."

"Yeah… oh, shit, I forgot about Yang." Indigo reached into her bag for her Scroll and made the call. "Yo. When do we have to be at the Academy?" Her face softened a little. "Yeah, us. Me and Opher." Then it hardened with displeasure. "We're not gonna be a 'cute couple'. I got enough of this from him." And finally, she smiled. "Right. We'll be there. See you."

Opher thought better of needling her again and simply got to the point. "What time?"

Indigo toyed with her ponytail in thought. "They want us at the airship terminal at seven. Hell, we made a killing today. I'm just gonna close so we can go home and get ready. Where do you want to meet up tonight?"

"The terminal will be fine," he said, raking fingers through his brown hair. "Seven, you said?"

"Yep. Get outta here. I'll see you then."

"All right." Opher wandered into the back, grabbed his hat, and left via the rear entrance. Within seconds, he was focused on planning for the task ahead. Job one was to restock his body on Dust, even though he hoped it wouldn't be necessary. For that, he needed to go home. Thinking of the amount of ways the evening could turn into a disaster made him shudder. "God," he sighed, clutching the gold coin in his pocket, "there's no possible way this is gonna end well."

* * *

Since he had no idea what sort of dress code he'd need to adhere to, Opher decided to opt for ignoring all of them. Upon arriving at the airship terminal, he was a bit relieved to find Indigo doing much the same. Her outfit was no different from what he usually saw her wear at the shop. "Oh, I thought one of us would try to be fancy," he said as he walked up to her.

"Uh, no. I'm gonna be on my feet for god knows how long," she said, nodding down at her usual boots. "You coulda rented a tuxedo."

He tugged at his silver t-shirt as he sat down. "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it wearing my own clothes." Both of them stared at the enormous lines at the security desk. "Well, that looks fun."

Indigo's brow furrowed. "I've been waiting on it to thin out. Doesn't seem like it's gonna happen."

Opher looked around further and found that even the special queue he got to use last time was fairly crowded. "Wow. I've never seen so many-"

"Excuse me. Indigo Stahl and Opher Riese?"

"Huh?" Indigo looked up and saw Glynda towering over them. "Hooooooly crap you are _tall_."

Glynda adjusted her glasses with a polite smile. "So I've been told. Please follow me."

"Where?" Opher asked, gazing at her with subtle suspicion as he stood up.

Her look back at him was equally wary. "To your transportation."

They followed her out of the reception area and up a spiraling staircase. This ended on the roof of the terminal, but they weren't at the building's highest point; three small airship pads stood above them. On one of them was parked a Bullhead. "I haven't been on one of these in forever!" Indigo yelled with glee. "Hey, new guy! What about you?"

"Once or twice," he said evenly, keeping a close watch on Glynda as they scaled another set of stairs.

Indigo continued to dominate the conversation after their Bullhead had taken off. "Oh, man," she said, looking out the open side and staring at the ground. "I actually jumped out of one of these once. Right into combat."

"You were in the Valesian Army, correct?" Glynda asked.

"Sure was. Made Sergeant before I opted for my discharge." Indigo looked back over at her. "Wait, how did you know that? Was there a background check?" Glynda simply nodded at her. "Oh, right. Tell me about him, then, 'cause he sure as hell won't," she added with a grin.

Opher masked his uneasiness with snark. "My god, you are nosy."

* * *

Thanks to their nimble mount, it was only a few minutes more before they arrived at Beacon. Once they were on the ground, Indigo literally skipped along the stone path ahead of Glynda and Opher, which drew a few laughs from the students walking past.

"She seems pleased about all of this," Glynda murmured to him.

Opher let out a subtle snicker. "You promised her free alcohol."

"Reminds me of a colleague of mine. Professor Ozpin will catch up with you later." Glynda raised her voice to catch Indigo's attention. "Both of you please wait in the dining hall, if you would."

"Got it," she waved in reply. "Come on, new guy!"

"Yeah, yeah." Opher and Glynda shared a lengthy look before they split up. Inside the hall was another of his favorite people: Yang, talking to Weiss, though he didn't see Ruby or Blake in the sparse crowd. Both girls were clad in fancy dresses. "Oh boy."

Indigo, of course, had to get the blonde's attention. "Hey, Yang! Nice dress!" she yelled, waving both arms. "Where's my liquor?"

Yang chortled as she turned to greet them. "I wish I knew! I could use a drink. Thanks for coming. We really needed the help."

Weiss, hands on her hips, rolled her eyes. "Was it really necessary to bribe them with alcohol? How ridiculous." She regarded Opher and Indigo's casual attire with a derisive glare. "And you couldn't even bother to dress properly."

Indigo took a seat and grinned. "I'm dressed for work, princess."

Before Weiss could think up a retort, Yang tapped her on the shoulder and nodded to the door. "Come on, we gotta make sure the ballroom is ready. See you guys later!"

As they left, Opher glanced around at the crowd before sitting down himself. "She didn't call me Gopher. Huh."

"The night hasn't even started yet. I'm sure she'll have plenty of chances," Indigo replied through a smirk. A second later, she caught him scanning the gathering. "Looking for someone?"

"Just sizing people up. Old habit."

"Oh, yeah. I still do that sometimes. I guess some of the training never really goes away." Indigo followed his lead and eyed the crowd. Most of the gathering consisted of adults, but a few Beacon students were scattered among them. "Wonder when they're gonna-"

Before she could finish her thought, one set of doors opened. Professor Ozpin stepped through them and began speaking immediately. "Would the chaperones gather over here, please? And I'd appreciate it if the students didn't eavesdrop." A few of them chuckled at his quip.

The adults did as asked; Indigo, to her chagrin, found she was by far the shortest of the bunch. "Move, move," she complained. "I can't see." The group eventually shuffled her and Opher to the front. "Thanks. Man, you're even taller in person than on TV."

Ozpin returned Indigo's smirk. "I just couldn't seem to stop myself from growing as a teenager." He cleared his throat and took on a more business-like tone. "We appreciate your willingness to attend. The teachers will be doing all the heavy lifting at the dance, but we need someone to keep an eye on the students that _aren't_ attending. That's where all of you come in."

Opher folded his arms with a frown. "Don't you have soldiers for that?"

"They will be concentrated at key areas, but there aren't enough to cover the entire campus." Here Ozpin paused to adjust his glasses and gaze over the crowd. "And to be frank, using soldiers to police students is not something I find palatable." Again he paused, this time to open his large gray Scroll. "I will be assigning pairs of you to specific areas. Does anyone have a preference in partners before I begin?"

Indigo raised her hand before Opher could even react. "He's gonna screw something up if I'm not around to watch him," she stated, thumbing over at him. Opher's displeased glare only made her smirk.

"Very well." Ozpin glanced down at the screen. "If you would open your Scrolls, I'll point you in the right direction."

They obeyed; both saw their mapping apps pop up with a red blinking dot. But only Opher got an additional message: _I will speak with you later tonight_. His brow furrowed. "What are we guarding, exactly?"

Ozpin kept his professional demeanor. "The east dormitory, where the exchange students are housed. You may proceed now if you wish."

"There anything else we need to know?" Indigo asked. Another window popped up on her screen with contact information. "Huh? What's this?"

"In case you need assistance," Ozpin explained. "All we ask is that you ensure the students aren't making too much of a ruckus. Consider yourselves babysitters."

"All right." She waved at Opher, then pointed to the nearest doors. "Come on, new guy."

He followed, but did not speak. Too much was on his mind. Assuming Mercury hadn't been lying about being a Haven student, their chances of running into him and Emerald had just gone up. Opher squinted into space.

Upon glancing around, Indigo noted his expression. "Damn, you look pissed."

He deflected her observation with one of his own. "Something's... off." He gazed up at the evening sky. Hanging above the campus was one of Ironwood's airships. "Is security for the festival always like this?"

She scratched at her ponytail and blinked. "It was in Atlas last, you should know."

"Heh. The security level in Atlas is always high. And anyway, I didn't go to the festival."

"Seriously?" Indigo nudged him in the side. "Why not?"

"Large gatherings of people aren't my thing." Opher nodded toward a building up ahead. "There it is. How are we gonna do this?"

"Well…" Indigo plucked the rifle off her back and started thinking. "We could split up, I guess. You take the south side and I take the north."

Opher adjusted his hat with a nod. "Right. Just yell really loud if you need my help."

"Ha! That's my l-" And then she remembered the events of a few nights ago. They stole her words. "Uh, yeah," she muttered instead, rubbing at her forehead. "Or just follow the sound of gunfire."

"Please try not to shoot anyone." Opher took up a position near a set of exterior doors, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms. "I hope your liquor is worth it."

"Hey, it's free." Indigo waved and started off. "Let's not screw this up."

Opher cracked an immense grin. "Not like you're not used to picking up the slack of Hunters, right?" His joke worked; Indigo laughed out loud as she disappeared around the corner. Once she was gone, he settled in to wait out the night.

Thirty minutes passed. Students left the building, some in uniform, some clearly headed for the dance. None of them were the three he worried most about, which was at once a relief and a concern. All seemed quiet on the northern front; Opher knew this because Indigo had begun to text him about being bored. "Better bored than-" He ceased muttering as the doors opened again. A whistling Mercury emerged through them. "Well, well."

"Huh?" Mercury snapped his eyes over and stared at Opher. His immediate reaction was to drop into a fighting stance.

Opher didn't even bother standing up off the wall. "Oh no, are you gonna kick me again?"

Mercury remained tense. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded through clenched teeth.

"I am literally babysitting a bunch of kids." He glanced down as another text from Indigo arrived. "And my boss, apparently."

Figuring Opher would have attacked by now had he wanted to, Mercury finally began to relax. "Sounds like a blast." He turned on his heel and began to walk away, only to be blown back toward Opher by a gust of wind. "The fu-"

"Quiet." A flick of his wrist and another gust of air had Mercury facing him. "A piece of advice: keep your girlfriend away from the north end of this building. Indigo is up there."

"Wait, are you _helping_ us?" Mercury asked, his face screwed up with confusion.

"I'm helping me. Indigo recognizing her and chasing her around campus is a hassle I don't want to deal with. Do you want me to get pissed off?" Opher smirked as Mercury shook his head. "Of course not." With another gust, he blew the thief a short distance away from him. "Now get the fuck out of here."

But he turned around again, this time of his own volition. "Uh, before I go-"

Too late; the doors opened again. Emerald stepped out. "I told you to go ahead," she snapped at Mercury before Opher's presence registered. "You!" As he had, she prepared to fight, but settled for resting her hands on the grips of her revolvers in lieu of drawing them. "What the hell?"

Opher tipped his hat with a caustic smirk. "Nice to see you too."

"Mercury," Emerald breathed, backing away slowly, "Do something…"

He shook her off, but also kept his distance. "No thanks. The last time I tried, it didn't go well. Besides, he's not even here to fight."

"What?" She glanced between them a few times before letting her gaze settle on Opher. "Explain."

"Yang roped Indigo into keeping watch while the dance is going on. I just couldn't trust you idiots to leave her alone, so here I am," he replied, at last straightening up off of the wall. "We got assigned to hang around here all night. She's on the north end of this building."

She processed this for a few blank-faced seconds. "Fine. We won't bother you." Emerald spun and began to walk off. "Let's go," she commanded Mercury.

"Bossy." He obeyed despite his deadpan remark. A quick glance down revealed that Emerald's hands were shaking, though he kept his mouth shut about it. "We're definitely telling her about this, right?" he muttered.

"Uh, yeah." Emerald slipped a small device into her right ear. It was uncomfortable enough to force a wince before she adjusted it by moving her jaw. "Comm check."

"Loud and clear," Cinder responded. "Status?"

"On our last little walkabout before we get dressed." Emerald hesitated to allow some passersby to move around before adding, "Ma'am, Opher Riese and Indigo Stahl are at our dorm. They're apparently part of the additional help Beacon hired for the dance."

"Hmm. Not a problem. I'll adjust my route. Out."

Emerald wiggled the earpiece free and placed it carefully back into her pocket. "Okay. We're still on for tonight."

"I know," Mercury confirmed, pointing at his own ear. "You worried about them being around?"

It would have been a lie had Emerald said no. She glared ahead to collect her thoughts and replied at length with a stern tone. "I wish they weren't, but Cinder isn't gonna let them see her. All we need to be concerned about is _our_ job."

* * *

"Come on, do something funny."

Opher hadn't the slightest idea what qualified as humor for Indigo at the moment; he shrugged at her and kept leaning against the dormitory wall. "Like what?"

Indigo shifted her rifle to the other shoulder and shrugged back. "I dunno. You got any Dust? Show me what you can do, Mister Huntsman."

"Oh boy," Opher rolled his eyes at the moon above and sighed. "I don't think Ozpin would appreciate me showing out on his campus, do you? Besides, I might cost you your free booze."

"So… huh." The prospect made Indigo hesitate for a moment. "True. You could do something little, right? I'm fucking bored out of my skull."

"I'm not here to entertain you." He blinked when she started pouting at him. "You are literally a child." That only made her pout harder. "Oh my god, fine." After a few subtle motions with his left hand, he pointed at the ground beneath his feet. "See this?"

A glittering trail of ice caught Indigo's eye. "Where did that come-" She looked up as Opher began to skate easily away. "Oh! Let me try!" Her clunkier footwear made things difficult, but after a few strides Indigo was skating too. "This is pretty sweet."

Most of his concentration was on making a continuous ice trail, but Opher still managed to smile at her glee. He led her around one corner of the building. "I'm glad you're having a nice time."

But the longer they went, the more curious Indigo became. "How are you even doing this? I know you're not packing this much Dust. You ain't got that many pockets, Mister Cargo Pants."

Opher loosed a faint chuckle. "Quantity is less important than efficiency when dealing with Dust. I'm not using much." He glanced up at some of the windows above. Most, but not all, were dark. "Didn't they teach you anything in the Army?"

"Closest I ever got to Dust training was learning how to handle it, pack it into bullets, and store the leftovers." She pulled off an unstable twirl, nearly fell flat on her face, and stumbled off the ice path. "Shit!"

"So much for female grace," Opher noted with a smirk.

"Don't make me punch you." Instead of getting back on the ice sheet, she decided to jog alongside him. "You're not even _holding_ a crystal. What the fuck?"

"Different people use Dust differently, Indy." Another glance up stopped him in his tracks. "Huh?"

Indigo stopped and looked up as well, though she was unable to determine what he'd seen. "What?"

"Thought I saw something on the roof." To check further, he also stepped off the ice and away from the structure. "Hmm. Stay here. I'll be right back."

"Where are you-" Indigo shielded her face against the gust of wind that came from Opher's launch into the night sky. She got her eyes open again just in time to see his landing. "Hey! Wait for me!"

"I'll just be a second," he called before disappearing beyond the awning. His focus shifted; while he didn't notice anyone else on the roof with him, he moved toward the other end anyway. Glances were thrown at nearby structures. In the moonlight he could barely make out a moving, dark-colored form traveling west along one of those roofs. "Great. So much for a boring night." He flipped open his Scroll to call Indigo. "I've got a runner. Looks like a student. Stay here while I chase them down."

"Ugh, fine. You want me to tell Ozpin?"

He smiled faintly at her annoyance. "Nah. I can handle it. Be back in a flash." After hanging up, he flung himself across the gap, softening his landing with a puff of air. Whoever it was had stopped up ahead, apparently waiting for something. Opher approached by sliding on a trail of ice to prevent being noticed. Just before he got there, his target leaped to the next structure. This building he knew: it was the dining hall. "Where the hell are you going?" he muttered to himself before an easy launch forward to catch up.

They didn't wait again. Opher had to pick up his pace to keep them in sight. He noticed they were beginning to circle the courtyard; on some of the balconies of a building to his right, he could see students in formal attire. A flash of red hair caught his eye. Pyrrha, definitely, but he had no time to think about it. Ahead, his quarry scampered along, keeping low. He drew close enough to discern the form as female, but her outfit was neither school uniform nor ballgown. His brow furrowed. After another turn, he chased her along the narrow, steep roof of the building that sat between the campus entrance and the ballroom. Each side was lined with small, windowed gables. It slowed her progress down significantly. Another smear of red appeared in the corner of Opher's eye; he looked and found Ruby Rose in the ballroom's open doorway.

And she'd seen either him or his quarry, because she started walking toward them. That distraction, unfortunately, was all the mystery woman needed to get out of his sight; when he looked ahead again she was gone. "Damn it," Opher grumbled. Instead of trying to catch back up, he jumped down into the courtyard and approached Ruby. "Hey, you saw that, right?" he asked.

She nodded confirmation. "Sure did. Did you see who it was?"

He looked back that way. "No. Wanna chase them?"

"Yes. Yes I do." Ruby was already on the move. Every third or fourth step, however, she stumbled due to her heels. "I hate these shoes."

Opher patiently waited until she got her momentum up and fell in beside her. "Anything interesting in that direction?"

Ruby's eyes darted around in thought. "Er… library. Chemistry lab. Transmit tower. The park? Um… oh! There's a-"

"I don't need a complete list." Opher dashed ahead briefly before boosting himself into the sky with a terrific burst of wind. Despite the high apex of his jump, he saw nothing out of place below. "Lost her," he said just before his wind-cushioned landing. "Let's keep going."

"Yeah. I think the tower is the closest-" Ruby squeaked with surprise as her high heels caused another stumble. "These stupid, stupid, stupid-"

Tired of losing time, Opher lifted the dainty girl off her feet in the middle of her sentence and drove her forward and skyward with a mighty breeze. She traveled in a shallow arc toward the transmit tower, only to become a red blur near her landing point. He launched himself again to catch up.

"Don't just _throw_ people without their permission!" she chided him breathlessly as he walked nearer.

"Aren't we in a hurry?" Opher noted the unconscious guards near the tower and pointed. "Besides, we've got bigger problems."

"Oh. Oh, wow." Ruby tapped quickly on her Scroll. "I'm gonna need my baby."

Opher had broken away to check on the fallen soldiers. He found both to be out cold, but still breathing. "Your baby?" he asked over his shoulder. The noise of an impact made him look; he saw Ruby pulling a folded-up Crescent Rose from a locker of some sort. "Oh. What's the plan?"

"Dunno." Ruby unfurled her weapon and gave it a bit of twitchy-eyed thought. "I'm going after her. If she's in there, then we've got her cornered."

Opher craned his neck to look at the tower's top. "And you want me to come along?"

Ruby shook her head. "Actually… it might be better if you stay out here. Catch her if she tries to run." Then she offered an awkward smile. "Oh, uh, if you have to kill her, could you maybe not set her on fire? I had nightmares for two days."

"No promises." Opher watched her titter anxiously, enter the tower, and disappear. His Scroll began to ring shortly after. "Yo, Indy."

"What's going on, new guy? We all good?"

Opher cast another glance skyward. "Yang's little sister saw her too. We'll handle it. I'll go get Ozpin if I need help. How are things on your end?"

"Fine. Sure you don't need my firepower?"

He grinned to himself. "That Ruby kid has a sniper rifle that turns into a scythe. I think we've got it covered. Gotta go. I'll be back shortly."

"Shit, I wanna come over there just to see that thing now. All right. Be careful." And with that, Indigo hung up.

The wait was quiet. He paced slowly around the base of the tower, eyes focused on the windows ringing its precipice. Sudden flashes of light from those windows stopped his strides. The muffled report of gunfire quickly followed. "I guess she's made contact." Someone was approaching from his left; to Opher's chagrin, it turned out to be General Ironwood. "Oh, terrific," he noted with a glower, "Now you're here."

"What-aren't you in the wrong spot?" Ironwood asked. "I thought-"

"Forget that. Get up there," Opher interjected, pointing up at the tower. "Something's going on. I'm out here on watch."

At this distance, Ironwood was also able to detect it when Ruby fired her weapon again. "Damn!" he said, bolting inside on heavy footsteps.

Silent moments passed. Opher saw no more flashes above and assumed the battle was over, but neither Ruby nor Ironwood came outside. He kept up his slow patrol. A vague silhouette came into view as he rounded the rear of the building. It quickly slipped into a wall of hedges lining one of the paths. Instead of giving chase immediately, however, Opher continued on, pretending he hadn't seen anything. Gentle rustling was his reward a few seconds later as the shadow left its hiding place and proceeded calmly away, carefully avoiding the lights.

Opher followed with all the subtlety of a whisper, bouncing over the hedges with just enough wind to clear their branches. His movement was so quiet that he got within mere feet of the intruder. It was the mysterious woman from earlier, and she seemed to be headed for the ballroom. About halfway there, she slowed her gait and placed a hand over her left ear. "He wasn't where you said he'd be, but no matter," she uttered. "I avoided him."

It was a voice Opher knew right off. An immense grin split his face. "Like hell you did, Cinder," he said loudly.

Dust-infused clothes and eyes alike lit up with brilliant fury as Cinder whirled on him. Her attack was instant; flash-forged blades and orange fire propelled themselves at Opher in waves directed by the motions of her arms. The former bounced harmlessly off his flaring ashen Aura and turned to fine powder in the air. The latter ran into a bubble of wind that blew those flames back at her, forcing her to one side. Unwilling to use such noticeable strikes again, Cinder wrapped her hands in thick glass gloves and leaped into the sky. Despite the immense force she directed at his head, Opher's Aura again deflected the attack. Her momentum forced Cinder to roll along the grass and bounce upright a few feet away.

"You're gonna have to kill me harder than that," Opher said flatly, his arms folded.

"Why… how…" Cinder breathed in response, arms up protectively as she backed away. Her Aura shifted forward in preparation for his attack. While all Cinder wanted was to withdraw into the night, Opher knew far too much for her to let him live now. The plan was simple: draw him into extended combat, figure out his weakness, and kill him, as she had so many foes before.

But he wouldn't attack her. In fact, a chuckling Opher turned his back on Cinder and simply walked away. Why he'd do this was beyond her, but she seized the chance. Another sword materialized in her left hand as she dashed forward. This time, her thrust cleared his Aura; the blade sank into Opher's back, just left of his spine. "Fool," she whispered with a smile, twisting the weapon in his flesh.

A marked lack of effect quickly became apparent. Opher didn't seem wobbly, much less ready to topple over. "Ow," he muttered, more annoyed than in pain.

Cinder backed away on quick steps as Opher turned, her sword still embedded in his body. "Impossible!" she hissed, producing two more blades.

"You're stronger than the idiots that work for you, I'll give you that," he replied, reaching behind him. He pulled the sword free and showed her the clean blade before breaking it in two over his knee. "But you are still a flea on a Goliath's back." Opher's Aura flared up again, so bright it outshone the lamps around them. He smiled at the horror in her glowing eyes.

"That power..." Cinder murmured, unable to believe what she was seeing. "It's…"

"Ooo, now that's an interesting expression," Opher remarked with a cruel smile. His Aura faded to a dense, shadowy fog, then out of sight altogether. "I get it now. You _know_ , don't you, Cinder?" His smirk became even darker as he approached. "You've seen it before."

"You cannot exist! It's not… that's not how the process works!" she snapped back at him.

Her anxious words only deepened his amusement. "I see," he began, doffing his hat, "that the General isn't the only one who can't think outside the box."


	12. Chapter 12

Cinder retreated slowly away from a smirking Opher until her back contacted another row of hedges. One statement slipped out as she went, however. "I'm not done with you."

His attention remained on the tears in his shirt. "I'm so terrified," he replied caustically.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What _are_ you?"

Opher still wouldn't look at her, but he did crack a grin. "Depends on who you ask."

Face screwed up with confusion, Cinder turned to make her getaway. He didn't bother to chase her as she vanished into the darkness; instead, he busied himself with repairing the rips in his clothing and walked back toward the tower. Eventually, the right mix of Aura and heat had his shirt looking close enough to new. The wounds in his back had long since been knitted together, though a faint soreness remained. He donned his shirt and hat again as the tower entrance came into view. The first person he saw was Ironwood examining the two fallen guards by the steps.

Ruby exited the tower a few seconds later; she toddled unsteadily over to Opher as he drew near. "Hey!" she yelled. "Did you see her?"

"Nope," he lied with a shrug. "She might have come out while I was around the back. I couldn't cover the whole area."

"Shoot," Ruby grumbled under her breath. They walked over to the General together. "Uh, Mister General Ironwood sir? Are we in trouble?"

He shook his head. "Of course not. You both did what you could." His gaze went to Opher. "I hope your original post isn't unguarded."

"Indigo has it covered," he replied, waving his Scroll. "If she needed help, she'd call. Or you'd be hearing gunshots right now."

Silence fell as Ironwood considered his next move. "All right. Miss Rose, you'd better get back to the dance. Mister Riese, return to your post. I'm going to talk to Professor Ozpin. Let's keep this quiet for now."

"What do you think she was doing in there?" Ruby asked. She quickly tacked on a "General. Mister. Sir," in order to remain polite.

"I wish I knew," he stated grimly as he walked away.

"Er… right." Once he was out of earshot, Ruby allowed herself a long series of pained hisses. "Oh, my feet are dyinnnnng."

Opher glanced down and found she was still wearing her heels. "No wonder. I'd rather fight barefoot than in shoes like that." He cast an awkward look around and sighed. "Well, I guess I'm out? Whatever. Later," he said with a brief wave.

"I guess? Bye." Ruby watched him skate away on a winding sheet of ice. "Aw, cool. How does he do that? I wanna do that." Her movement toward the ballroom was far slower. "Agh. Ow. Ow. Ugh." Another stumble made her growl; fed up, she yanked off her shoes and carried them in her free hand. "I'm gonna throw these things at Yang."

Skating backwards, Opher watched Ruby retreat into the distance for a moment before turning around and leisurely wandering toward the dormitories. On the way, he gave Indigo a heads up. "I'm coming back," he said into his open Scroll. "She got away, but Yang's little sister ran into her. It's out of my hands now. Anything happen on your end?"

"Nah," she sighed. "I'm bored as hell over here."

He cackled at her. "Oh. I'd better think of something to entertain you, then. I'll be right back." That done, he hung up and directed his thoughts back to Cinder. He clutched the gold coin in his pocket to help him think. If she understood what he was, even a little, did her subordinates? Brow furrowed, Opher considered this possibility before tossing it quickly aside. They certainly didn't _fight_ like they knew; their underestimation of him during those encounters was almost pathetic. Then again, Cinder had done the same. She, like Emerald and Mercury before her, had to find out the hard way.

But why was Cinder familiar with his power in the first place? This was a question for which Opher had no answer. And what was she up to? After slowing to a stop, he frowned at the sky. He'd found himself between what he suspected were opposing forces: Cinder and her mysterious posse on the one hand, and Beacon on the other. At _least_ Beacon. With Ironwood around, Opher had to include Atlas on that list. "Could it really be?" Cinder's insistence about the "process" was his biggest clue. Again, however, he had no idea why she'd be privy to such knowledge. Deep in thought, he skated on for a while before reverting to normal footsteps.

Indigo waved happily as he came around the corner of the dormitory. "Yo. Have fun?"

"I'm not sure what just happened," he admitted while leaning against the wall once more. "Whatever it was, I doubt I'm gonna get to go home tonight when you do."

Indigo cocked a brow at him. "Why? What's going on?"

Opher was hesitant to let her in on too much. "I don't actually know," he sighed while looking away. "I ran all that way for nothing, I guess."

"Heh. I bet it was a prank." Indigo placed her hands behind her head and stared at the moon. "I-" A chime cut her off. "Huh?"

Opher watched her open her Scroll. "What?"

"It's Ozpin," she said while reading the message. "They're gonna shut it down at midnight. Not much longer to go." She looked up as a few students in formal wear approached. "Hey, uh, I might close the shop early tomorrow. Haven't decided yet."

"Oh?" Opher waited for the students to enter before adding, "Why's that?"

"Ah, hell. Thought we could go to the range," she replied with a smile. "I need to teach you how to shoot, right?"

He matched her expression, but only for a moment. "I guess you do. I mean, you won't even let me hold that pistol."

"For your own safety. And mine. And everyone's," she explained, her smile becoming more of a grin.

"Understandable. I don't trust me with it either." They both stared up at the moon. "I always worked alone. I wonder what it's like to hunt in teams?"

Indigo shifted her rifle a bit. "Gotta have its advantages. We _never_ went anywhere alone in the Army. If you make more friends than enemies, it's pretty good."

This statement made him look down at her. "Did you?"

Indigo hesitated for an instant. "I guess. You kind of had to. If you really hated someone, they'd take both of you off the front lines so you wouldn't attract the Grimm. Then they'd make you work it out or you got reassigned." Her ochre eyes grew distant. "Sometimes the officers wouldn't notice fast enough and whole units would get wiped out."

Now it was Opher bearing a thousand-yard stare. "Right. I've... been there."

Indigo winced and swerved them hard away from the subject. "Anyway! If I don't hear something about my liquor, I'm gonna be pissed."

"Maybe you should ask Yang?" A few more students approached; in their number was a familiar face that made Opher's brow furrow a bit. The blonde herself approached on bouncy steps with a broad smile. A glass bottle was in her left hand. "I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Hello!" she chirped happily. "Look what I've got!"

"Hey, we were just talking about you." Indigo accepted the bottle when Yang arrived. "Holy hell," she murmured while reading the label. "Garnet Rock scotch from Vacuo? Damn. Someone's got good taste."

"Compliments of the headmaster," Yang said with a wink. Her eyes went to Opher. "Speaking of, he wanted to talk to you for a second."

Opher frowned vaguely. "Of course. Did Ruby tell you what happened?"

Yang offered only a shrug and a smile. "Actually, she didn't say much. By the way, why was she carrying her heels?"

Thinking on it made him chuckle. "Have you seen her walk in them? I'm surprised her ankles aren't broken. Guess I'll see you later." Opher tipped his hat at Indigo and followed Yang away.

"Oh, sure, leave me here to do all of the work again," she joked. "Later, new guy."

Once enough distance had been gained, Yang suddenly looked as serious as Opher had ever seen her. "What's really going on here?" she asked quietly.

Opher matched her grave expression. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Her eyes flickered red for an instant. "If you're holding back on me and something happens to Ruby, I will make you regret it."

All this threat accomplished was making him smile weakly. "Do you want my honest response, or a diplomatic one?"

Caught off guard, Yang blinked at him before recovering and glaring. "I'm a big girl, Opher. Just give it to me straight."

His gaze remained firmly ahead. "I have no idea what the hell is going on," he admitted. It wasn't long before he noted they were moving toward the ballroom. "Wait, Ozpin is in there? Still?"

The smile had returned to Yang's face, though it lacked a bit of its usual brightness. "Yep. He must like the beats."

Here their conversation died. Once through the double doors, Opher saw Pyrrha's brilliant red hair within the dancing crowd; her partner was Jaune, and for whatever reason he was wearing a dress. The sight earned a brief, confused glance, but no more. Yang thumbed up one of the staircases and wandered off. Jaw set, he climbed those steps and at their top saw Ozpin a standing few yards away in the open corridor. Now he understood why the professor felt safe enough to speak here: between the thumping music and the partying students, there was little chance anyone could eavesdrop.

"Mister Riese," Ozpin greeted as he approached. "Interesting night?"

Opher did not join him at the railing; instead he leaned against a nearby column and stayed out of sight. "Is anyone going to explain to me what just happened?" he asked, crossing his arms.

His brow creased slightly. "How forthcoming we would be depends on how forthcoming you plan to be, Mister Riese."

"After you," Opher said with a smirk.

The headmaster turned toward him with a flat gaze. "Now that you've had a couple of days to mull it over, one more chance. How did your Aura become compressed?"

Opher's green eyes became steely. "Wasn't telling you then, not gonna tell you now."

"Very well." A stone-faced Ozpin tapped away at his Scroll for a few moments. "If you'll give us nothing to go on, we'll proceed with what we have."

Opher didn't care for the sudden shift in his tone. "Oh, yeah? And what would that be?"

"You. Since you're a witness, you will not be allowed to leave the campus until we've had a chance to question you in a more... appropriate setting." Ozpin examined Opher for a reaction but found only another smirk on his face.

"That's funny," he noted, face growing dark. "How do you plan on making me stay?"

Now it was Ozpin doing the smiling. "I'm sure you don't want to cause a ruckus, do you?"

The music washed over them as they stared each other down. Abruptly, Opher turned away with clenched fists and started down the stairs. He threaded his way through the party-goers and made it outside, fully expecting to be met by _someone_ intent on stopping him. No one showed up. Every step away from the building only made him more uneasy. His eyes darted from tree to tree in search of hidden opponents. Still searching the shadows, he produced his Scroll and made a call. "Hey, Indy?"

"Yo," she replied pleasantly. The unusual warmth in her tone made it seem like she'd already taken a few sips of scotch. ""All done?""

"I wish. Apparently, it was a hell of a prank. They wanna chat with me after the dance is over." After a breath, he added, "But you can go on home if you want. They're about to wrap it up for the night. Call Ozpin about a ride."

"Really? Well, hell. All right. Want me to save you some of this?"

"You know I'm not much of a drinker. See you in the morning." Before she could reply, he hung up and came to a stop in the middle of the courtyard. The area was completely deserted. Stretching out to his right was the wide avenue that led to the airship pads. It was too obvious a route to take, part of him thought, but off he went regardless. Like a gazelle, he bounded along the stone, using little puffs of wind to gain ever more speed.

Just as it seemed he would get away, a stern voice reached his ears from behind. "You were instructed to stay here, Mister Riese."

Opher slid to a stop and spun around to see Glynda striding toward him. "Here we go," he sighed. His Aura began to react as she leveraged her telekinesis to keep his feet planted. Little gray wisps, almost like a flame without light, became visible all around him. "This feels odd."

"It could feel a lot _worse_ ," she said with a scowl. "Why are you being so evasive? What secret could be worth the trouble?"

There was no need for him to struggle, not yet. He used the chance to feel out her power and kept talking. "I usually prefer not to rock my boat. Although… given what happened tonight, it feels like I'm going to end up riding a wave anyway. Maybe someone will even bother explaining things to me."

Glynda gently lifted Opher off the pavement and floated him toward her. "That issue is currently none of your concern."

"Oh, really? Seems like you're more afraid of me than whoever just sneaked into the tower." His grin became bitterly caustic. "I don't think I blame you."

She met his vague hostility with her own and snarled. "For all we know, you may be one and the-ahem. All you need to do is tell us the truth! Until-" His sudden peals of laughter silenced her. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"I was right," Opher smiled. "What are you so afraid of?"

A suddenly cagey Glynda struggled to find some way to frame her answer without giving away too much. "You claim to have been a Hunter, yet your face and name have never appeared on any Kingdom's mission boards. That doesn't cast your story in a very favorable light."

He put on a half-smile and shrugged. "Point taken. So, what, are you fingering me as a criminal instead?"

Glynda let him down again, but kept his feet mentally shackled in place. "Perhaps I am. If you would just come out with whatever you're concealing, then we wouldn't _have_ this problem."

"You're right. The truth is worse." He'd stalled her enough to examine her power by now. Unlike his Aura, hers wasn't capable of solid, continuous grip; it instead felt like a series of innumerable, rapid taps to keep his motion at bay. Glynda wasn't holding onto him as much as she was precisely, constantly pushing him in whatever direction was necessary. Based on this knowledge, Opher was confident he already had the upper hand. "Let go of my shoes."

"Are you going to cooperate?" she asked coolly.

"Let _go_ of my shoes," he demanded again, muscles becoming tense.

"Or what? You won't fight me." Glynda swiftly took hold of her riding crop and focused her power even more. "Not out here. Not around the students."

"Heh, Ozpin has me figured. He knows I don't wanna make a scene." For an instant, Opher's Aura flickered. It then faded from view. For an instant he smiled before the ashen essence appeared again, enveloping his feet. It took the form of jagged, almost icy spikes that lanced her mental hold.

The shock of this interaction between their Auras struck Glynda's brain like hot coals. "What are-" she gasped, her free hand against the side of her head. her crop began to tremble as she struggled for focus. "Stop this at once!"

Opher adjusted his essence to stab her Aura whenever she shifted it. "What if I don't need to make a scene to kill you?" he wondered aloud, stepping forth as Glynda's telekinesis began to sputter.

Every time she tried to grab him again, Glynda's Aura would take one of those ashen barbs and be unable. She could no longer restrain his feet; in fact, she could barely slow his progress without her soul crying out in pain. His inexorable approach forced her to start backing up. "Get-get back!" When her heel caught in a gap in the stone, Glynda was too overwhelmed to stop herself from falling.

Now that she was on the ground, Opher advanced no farther. He had no reason to. He continued displaying his Aura just in case. "Hard to snatch up a bramble, isn't it?" he asked with a vague smirk. "I hope we've come to an understanding. None of you are gonna _make_ me do anything."

While she could have hurled a bench, or a tree, or even the paving stones themselves at him, Glynda thought better of it and simply rose to her feet with a frown. "Mister Riese, you are..." A moment passed before her eyes suddenly lit up.

Her expression was akin to Cinder's. Opher cocked a brow as he dismissed his gray essence. "What?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Glynda fell silent, put her crop away, and produced her Scroll.

Opher snorted out a foggy cloud of breath and started to walk off. A thought stopped him. "I feel like Ozpin was testing me again. To see how far I'd go on his turf."

Glynda let her brow furrow deeply as she tapped at the screen. "Perceptive. Most ne'er-do-wells don't have such restraint, granted, but… that doesn't help us get any closer to explaining what you are."

"Glad to hear it." He looked at the airship pads in the distance. "Can I go home now?"

"It's not 'can I', it's 'may I'." Glynda's admonishment only caused Opher to glare. "We still need to collect your statement about the incident… please," she stated with an adjustment of her glasses.

"Someone finally uses the magic word," he relented with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever. Let's get this over with already."

* * *

While Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were still in their formal attire, the mood in their dimly-lit dorm room was anything but festive. The thief, under some quiet urging from Mercury, finally broke their uneasy silence. "Ma'am?" she gingerly said. She'd never seen her leader act so uncertain. "What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"He didn't have to," Cinder replied hoarsely. "We have a very serious problem."

"We do?" Mercury chimed in. "It didn't sound like much of a fight from our end."

"It was even less impressive in person." Cinder rose from her bed and circled slowly around the room. "A shred of effort for even less effect on both my part and his. And yet, he somehow managed to emerge victorious."

Emerald's face dropped with confusion. "Okay, uh, what? What does that mean?"

An instant arrow took form in Cinder's other hand. "Three of these to the back didn't bother him at all." Just as quick, she turned it to a pile of dust in her open palm. She turned to look down at her shocked associates. "He guides the wind with a flick of his wrist. Sound familiar?"

Mercury made the connection first and blinked. "Hold on… like the Fall Maiden? But Riese is a guy."

She nodded at him. "Hence, our problem. His Aura is, to say the least, very odd. A sourceless flame that shines only when he commands it."

"Wait. Like that fire in your eyes?" Considering the implications gave Emerald a headache. She decided to let her mistress do the thinking instead. "What happens now?"

Cinder turned her hollow gaze to the thief and stared briefly. "I… do not know. I am confident we could best him; your battles started with him holding the advantage. Mercury had no room to fight him in his apartment. You had little leeway to manipulate his perception." She gnashed her teeth in frustration. "How could someone like Riese come from _nowhere_? It makes no sense!"

"Unless he's been hiding. Or he was being hid, if he's a-" Mercury shut his mouth as Cinder snapped a hand up.

"Riese cannot be a Maiden," she said lowly. A brief, but wild flickering erupted in her eyes. "And yet… he is clearly beyond a normal human. I am not sure what we've stumbled upon."

Emerald swallowed hard, but tried to remain optimistic. "You're right, though. We can roll him if we fight on our terms and not his." She looked over at Mercury and nodded. "I mean, he has to die now, right? He knows waaaaay too much."

"No no no, hold on." Mercury waved her off with a wicked grin. "We don't need to kill him ourselves. That Indigo woman means something to him-"

"Didn't we already try this?" Emerald said, squinting bitterly.

That earned her a smile. "Hear me out. We make him think she's in trouble beyond the wall and let the Grimm kill him. Maybe out near Mountain Glenn or something. Then our hands are totally clean."

"An interesting solution," Cinder acknowledged quietly. "I would like to learn more about him first, if only for curiosity's sake. Speaking of which…" She reached into her bag and pulled out her Scroll. A stylized chess piece, the black queen, flickered on its screen. "In short order, Beacon's knowledge will be ours. Including whatever they might have on Riese."

"Cool." After a moment's hesitation, Mercury stretched his arms. "Uh… what if they don't know anything either?"

A frown appeared as Cinder thumbed through the data on her screen. "Then we had better be the first to learn. For now, we will proceed as planned." She walked over to the window and looked out. "If Riese keeps his promise, then we keep ours. If he does not, then we will strike with _everything_ we have."

Emerald and Mercury let her words sink in, but in short order the swarthy thief had a question. "If Riese was so hard to hurt, why did he let you shoot him in the back?"

Cinder opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Her arms crossed as she considered Emerald's wording. "Let me?" An amber glow poured from her eyes as she realized the truth. "That _bastard_ ," she hissed, causing both of her underlings to wince. "I do not take kindly to being dismissed."

* * *

Opher read the message on his Scroll as he waited for the ballroom to clear out. One problem had solved itself, at least: Indigo managed to get home thanks to another ride on a Bullhead. With a smirk, he snapped the device closed and put it away. Nearby, Weiss and Yang were helping to clean up the ballroom. They were not alone; Blake and all of Team JNPR were assisting. Notably, Jaune was in his usual outfit and not the white dress Opher had seen him wearing earlier. Ruby, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"I cannot believe you followed through," Pyrrha said through a warm smile.

He just shrugged it off. "Hey, the Arcs are men of honor. I made the bet. I paid up."

Yang snickered as she walked past with a speaker cabinet on her shoulder. "I thought you were the cutest girl here!"

"I was _adorable_ ," he confirmed. The blondes shared a fist bump before Yang moved on. Jaune cast a wary look at Opher, whose face was hidden by the camouflaged brim of his hat. "So, uh, what's he still doing here?"

Blake's glance at him was even more suspicious. "That's a good question."

Weiss regarded his presence with more derision than uncertainty. "Whatever the reason, he could at least make himself useful," she complained while balancing a stack of vases in her arms.

She'd been a bit too loud, though. Opher looked up and said, only half-jokingly, "I don't work for you anymore, Schnee."

"If you _did_ work for me you'd have been fired by now," she stated with a narrow-eyed scowl.

"Now, now, let's not start any arguments," Pyrrha urged with a nervous smile. "He's under no obligation to help."

"Damn right I'm not," Opher muttered under his breath. He looked over and blinked when Nora sat down at his table. "Uh… hello?"

She didn't even bother with a greeting before launching into her point with a toothy grin. "Soooo, Pyrrha told me about what you said in the lobby the other day and-"

"Oh, of _course_ she did," Opher growled, slamming a fist against the tabletop before turning to glare Pyrrha's way. The redhead's back was turned, but her shoulders were scrunched up with tension.

"In her defense, it's really hard to tell Nora no. She won't stop asking. Ever," Jaune said. Ren, standing next to him, confirmed this with a silent nod.

A smiling Nora proceeded as if the outburst hadn't happened. "Anyways, I wouldn't have acted like that if I'd known, you know." Sadness creeped into her eyes. "Totally wouldn't. No way."

Ren broke away from his leader and walked over. "She really is sorry," he stated quietly, patting Nora's shoulder.

"I'm not mad at you," Opher assured them both. "But I _am_ mad at _someone_ in here!" he added loudly. Pyrrha winced again.

The sound of doors opening drew their attention. Ruby entered the hall on quick strides; while she still wore her fancy red dress, her usual black boots were now on her feet. "Sorry that took so long," she said cheerfully. "Hey, Opher? It's your turn."

He didn't need to ask what she meant. General Ironwood followed Ruby in, but only for a few steps. "Yeah. All right," Opher mumbled lowly.

"Aww, bye Gopher!" Yang waved happily as he stood up and began walking. "See you ar-" Her face froze with horror. "Damn it!" she blurted out.

Ruby pumped her fist in glee. "Ha! You owe me twenty Lien!"

Yang hopped around in disgust with herself. "I was so friggin' close!"

While Blake and JNPR chuckled at the scene, Weiss just rolled her eyes. Then a smile bent her lips. "Only twenty? She owes _me_ a hundred."

"Noooooooo!" Yang squealed, clutching the sides of her head.

Opher stared blankly ahead, ignoring the noise as he walked past Ironwood and into the night air. The General shut the door behind them as he emerged. "Glynda had some interesting things to say about you," he noted evenly.

"I'm sure she did." The spherical lights high above them in the tower caught Opher's eye briefly. "I guess we're heading to Ozpin's office?"

Ironwood was already on his way down the steps. "Indeed."

Neither man had anything else to add on their way to the administrations building, nor on the slow elevator ride up to the headmaster's office. When the doors slid open, Ozpin and Glynda glanced over from in front of the former's desk. "Now what?" Ironwood asked firmly as he approached. "They were _here_."

"Who is 'they', by the way?" Opher interjected, cutting in front of Ironwood as he spoke. "Or am I just not gonna get an answer to that?"

Ozpin focused on his Scroll with a faint frown. "Forgive me, Mister Riese, but our trust on this particular matter comes at a premium."

A bitter chuckle escaped as Opher moved to the nearest window. "I know exactly where you're coming from."

"Don't start," Glynda warned both of them. She stepped over to Ozpin and added lowly, "Professor, we might need his help. How does that saying about 'gift horses' go? Whatever concerns we had about our enemies having a hand in his current status are clearly unfounded."

Ozpin didn't look at her, but he did match her low tone. "Yes, yes, you mentioned the extreme peculiarities of his Aura. Regardless, this is a matter we should be keeping among ourselves, don't you think?"

Ironwood, who had also shuffled over for their impromptu conference, murmured another observation: "He uses Dust like a Maiden. We saw him on that recording. Hell, we saw him do it in _person_. Something very strange is going on here."

Unbeknownst to them, Opher used subtle motions and whispers of air to gently waft their conversation over to him through the incessant clicking of the gears. The word Maiden stood out, a confirmation of the suspicions Cinder had raised. They were still alive. This news brought a small measure of joy and misery to Opher's soul, but his face showed neither emotion.

"I think we should tell Qrow," Glynda said after a short silence. "If they know as little about Riese as we do, it won't matter if he's been compromised."

"No. It's an unnecessary risk," Ozpin pointed out with a glance at Opher. "The fewer people who know what is going on with Riese, the better-"

"In that case, I've got good news!" Opher bellowed at the top of his lungs. He turned to stare at their surprised faces. "I'm pretty sure that number currently stands at one… me." He paused to fuss with his hat and look back out the window. "I saw her on the roof of the east dorms, but I dunno if that's where she originated. Chased her all the way around the courtyard before Ruby showed up and I lost sight of her. We headed to the CCT tower and, well, Ironwood saw the rest. I don't know how she escaped."

"And that's all?" the General asked.

"That's it," Opher lied with a final tug at his hat. "I mean, I'm sure you could fill in the blanks for me, but I won't hold my breath."

"Too much is at stake," Ozpin stated evenly. "We cannot simply-"

Opher silenced him with a glare over the shoulder. "What do you know? That excuse happens to work for me too. Honestly, I trust you fuckers about as far as I can throw you." His face went blank. "Wait. That analogy doesn't really work for me."

Glynda pushed her glasses back up onto her nose and stepped forward. "Hypothetically, if we asked for your assistance, what would you say?"

"I'd need to know what I were helping you with," he replied with a shrug. "Not sure if I want to dip my toes into some vast conspiracy or whatever the hell this is."

"A sensible perspective." Ozpin set his Scroll aside and approached. "You have undeniable talents. Talents that could be helpful to us, given the correct circumstances."

"You're not wrong." Opher walked a few feet away from the window and faced them. "If nothing else, I'd be _amazing_ at killing Grimm."

Ozpin allowed himself a little smile, but it vanished almost instantly. "I assume you heard our entire chat?"

"I did. Ironwood doesn't seem to like the way I use Dust."

The headmaster's visage became incredibly serious. "And do you know why his determination would be impossible?"

Instead of answering right away, Opher lifted his tattooed arm and placed his hand in front of his face with fingers spread wide. Little tongues of blue flame sprouted from each of his fingertips; the conflagration spread quickly down his arm all the way to his elbow. "What, because I'm a man?" he asked sarcastically.

Ironwood peered at the cerulean fire that embraced Opher's skin. "Am I the only one who thinks this situation just became incredibly complicated?"

Opher snapped and the flames died immediately. "Heh. Thought you guys would be too old to believe in fairy tales."

Some of the tension in the room seemed to fade, though Glynda and Ironwood maintained their grave expressions. Ozpin wore a bit of a smirk, however. "Perhaps, but it is nice to know we've all been reading between the same lines. How did you learn the truth?" the headmaster asked.

He took a second to hammer together a nice, vague lie. "I'm a little bit of a wanderer. I have _seen_ some shit." Opher replied with a rub at the nape of his neck. "You can't really call me a Maiden. I'm just…"

"...different?" the headmaster offered.

"Let's go with that, yeah." Opher peered at the vista outside to steady his nerves. "If the Kingdoms were able to harness what happened to me, they'd tear each other apart trying to control it. That's why I'm a little skittish. Figured Ironwood would want to stick me in a lab somewhere and experiment on me."

"It isn't us you should be worried about," Glynda said. "The way you handle Dust makes me think your ability might be related to the Maiden's gift, even if you're not a Maiden. That means-"

"Your life may be in danger," Ironwood concluded for her. "We can leave the specifics aside for now, but… if what you're saying is true, there are those who will stop at nothing to figure out what makes you tick."

"My life's in danger, huh? I wish I could believe that," he whispered to himself. Opher cracked an odd little smile as he looked back to them. "I'm more worried about Indigo, but I'm pretty sure I already took care of that problem."

Ozpin set his mug aside and sighed. "Did you not engage the White Fang some nights ago, Mister Riese?"

"Yeah." Opher folded his arms loosely. "And I killed… wait." His mind brought up the memory of Violet first, then her cousin the thief at Indigo's shop, then all the Faunus that had seen him at the site of the recruitment meeting just after the giant mech appeared. "Oh. Hmm. Uh… they probably know what I look like, actually."

Glynda pursed her lips and sighed. "And that knowledge will spread like wildfire to some rather undesirable ears. It might be wise if you remained here. Miss Stahl, too. Where we can keep an eye on you."

"Uh, didn't you guys just get infiltrated?" he asked, thumbing over his shoulder out the window. "Not sure how much protection you can offer." Glynda and Ironwood squirmed vaguely, but Ozpin kept up his stoic mask. "That's what I thought. Look, you tell Indigo she has to stay here and she's going to start asking uncomfortable questions. I think the best way to protect her is to keep her as far away from the problem as possible."

"Agreed," Ozpin said. "The fewer moving parts involved, the better."

"All right, what if _you_ stayed here, then?" Ironwood stated. When Opher shook his head at this, the General added, "Why not?"

"Not unless I can commute to work," he stated. "See, if I just go AWOL, Indigo is gonna look for me. And when she finds me, and she will find me, we've got the problem of her asking questions again."

"Surely we can produce an appropriate excuse," Glynda said, her eyes darting around in thought. "It would save so much trouble."

Ozpin interjected after taking a sip of coffee. "I might have a solution, albeit only a temporary one. Field missions start later today. The first-year students will be tasked with shadowing a Huntsman or Huntress on missions."

"Hold on a second," Opher said, already aware of where Ozpin was going with this plan. "I'm not officially a Hunter, am I?"

The headmaster set his mug aside. "The documentation is not an issue, Mister Riese. We have Grimm infestations that need clearing out. Let's help each other; you do what you do best to the Grimm, and we get you out of the city for a few days while our investigation occurs."

Getting stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of kids wasn't a desirable situation and Opher's scowl let them know it. "How does this help me help Indigo?"

Ironwood had also gotten the hint. He clasped his hands behind his back and took over. "Miss Stahl is still part of the Valesian Army ready reserve. Since the festival is coming soon, I will recommend to the King that the reserve will be called up to help clear out what Grimm they can."

Opher wasn't following anymore. "Okay, and…" he urged.

Glynda tapped away at her Scroll, already making the necessary arrangements on Beacon's end. "We would see to it that Miss Stahl would be going with you."

"Oh." His face went blank. "That could work. Got a team in mind?"

Ozpin smiled a bit. "I think we should keep as much of this off the record as possible. That leaves one very obvious choice, doesn't it?"

"Huh?" And then it hit Opher; Team JNPR already knew enough of his secrets to follow along. His face softened with disdain. "Ah, damn it. JNPR? Really?"

The headmaster nodded. "Indeed, Mister Riese. I suggest you get some sleep. You have quite a few days ahead of you."

"Yeah. I'm gonna need all the sleep I can get to deal with Pyrrha." With a too-friendly wave and smile, Opher turned to take his leave and headed for the elevator. But once he was sure they wouldn't see, that smile became a little strange. He checked the elevator car for cameras and found none, but hid his face beneath the brim of his hat regardless. "I guess some fairy tales are still true. Huh. Looks like my old hobby might be back on the table."


	13. Chapter 13

Opher was, for once, up with the sun the next morning. He wouldn't need to show up at Beacon for a few hours, but there were preparations to be done. Given his tendency to wander, he always had a duffel bag ready to be packed with the necessities in case he needed or wanted to make a quick getaway. In this he shoved enough clothes to last a week, along with almost every Dust crystal in the apartment. He wouldn't need so much. It was simply acknowledgment that he'd be fighting with weaker comrades who might.

In the course of these tasks, Opher's Scroll rang. The clock on screen said 8:30, so he knew who it had to be. "Hello?" he said evenly.

He was wrong. "Morning, new guy," Indigo greeted hesitantly. "Uh… I have some bad news. Actual bad news."

Opher ceased grabbing water bottles and looked at the device with surprise. "What happened?"

"Got a call an hour ago. I'm getting mobilized. It's not for long, just until the festival starts, but you're not gonna have a job in the meantime."

That was the exactly the bad news he was hoping to hear. While he let himself smile, Opher made sure to match her sullen tone a bit. "Well, that sucks."

"Yeaaaah." Indigo fell silent for a few moments. "Are you gonna need some money to get by? I've still got the fat wad of Lien that Schnee left."

"How sweet of you," he replied, genuinely touched. "I'll be fine. You're getting called up to help beat back the Grimm, right?"

"Wh-how did you know?"

He wished he could see her face. "So am I. Ozpin roped me into it last night before I left."

The surprise turned her voice a bit nasally. "Shit! Really? For how long?"

Opher went back to stuffing provisions into his bag. "Not sure. I'll know more when I get to Beacon."

"Beacon? Huh. My company's going to Beacon. They don't have enough first-year teams to cover the gaps this time around so the Army gets to help."

"Huh. Maybe they should adjust their entrance requirements if they don't have enough students," he replied while idly examining a purple Dust crystal.

"I don't think they can. Anyway, uh, I need to go find my shit, so… you know."

Opher guessed at why Indigo sounded so hopeful and decided he'd address it. "Same. Maybe I'll see you there?"

"Pff, wouldn't that be hilarious? Doubt it'll happen, though. Oh well." A beat passed. "Eh. Later, new guy."

"Later, Indigo." He hung up and grinned to himself. "This is going to be such fun." That smile faded into a frown quickly. "If Pyrrha can keep her mouth shut." Since the redhead had come up, Opher looked at the time on his Scroll, fully expecting her to call him too. Several empty seconds passed before he decided she was probably busy with the same task as him: getting ready for the hunt.

To this end, there was one last thing Opher wanted to do. With a bottle of water on hand to help ease the process, he consumed a Dust crystal of every color. This took a couple of minutes to pull off; by the end, Opher winced with pain. Every breath seemed to hurt. It had been some time since he'd ingested so many at once. He could almost feel them being broken down, their power entering his veins. Waiting on this process to finish gave Opher some time to think.

The situation he currently found himself in took top priority. Cinder and Ozpin, along with their respective little cliques, clearly knew more about the true history of Remnant than Opher first believed. The latter's objective was relatively easy to guess. If he had James Ironwood on his side, then Ozpin was clearly out to maintain the peace. Or, perhaps, the status quo. If that was the case, then Cinder's goal must be to upset that peace. His brow furrowed as the last sensations of Dust died in his stomach. "A war?" he wondered out loud. "What could she possibly get out of a war?"

It might have been eighty years since the global conflict that engulfed Remnant and brought the Kingdom of Mantle to its knees, but for Opher the event was not just the contents of some history book. He ceased packing and wandered into the living room to gaze out the window. The blue sky served as a backdrop for old memories he hadn't thought upon in a long while. Before his time as an off-the-books Huntsman, Opher had been a soldier; a one-man army that fought in exactly one battle in the Great War. He'd been fortunate to only need one fight to get his point across, which helped him keep his identity a secret. The surprise with which Ironwood treated him was confirmation of his success. Opher, and more specifically his actions, had faded away on that continent.

It wouldn't be so easy if he had to defend that sacred valley again. Not with the transmit system, and especially not now that so many people had the means to record events. His brow furrowed. "Guess my vacation might be over," he sighed. "Eighty years? Not bad, all things considered."

A gray fog appeared before his eyes; his Aura, trying to get its container's attention. Opher fanned it away uselessly with a smirk. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He looked to the tattoos on his left arm and started picking out symbols to read. "Mom would say 'fuck 'em all, look out for number one'," he noted, running a finger over four characters along his wrist. "But dad would say 'find something righteous to fight for'," he added, staring at eight symbols in the crook of his bent elbow. Gray Aura sprouted from the skin of his forearm like a ghostly tree. He searched its ashen branches with a frown. "I don't think I care either way."

While the prospect of picking sides again wasn't appealing, one overarching fact gave him a twisted sense of peace: no sides would _ever_ matter. After seeing so many sunrises that they no longer held meaning, war, like many things, had become nothing more than an inconvenience. His shoulders slumped in exhaustion. "Every new century is the same damn thing." Anger flooded his heart; fists clenched, he let his essence flare and glow. "At least the Maidens get to _die_. No such fucking luck for me." That rage left as quickly as it had arrived, however, departing with his slow breath. Today was all that counted, he reminded himself. Focus on today. Focus on what he knew.

And what he knew was incredibly important: contrary to popular belief, flesh-and-blood Maidens continued to roam the planet. That precious gift, from warm body to warm body, still ran after all this time. "Huh. I wonder if it remembers me." He returned to packing with a strange little smirk on his face. "Oh, this is bringing back some memories. The next time I see Ozpin, I'm gonna grill his ass. Maybe those hags have gotten strong enough to grant me my wish."

* * *

Two hours later, another Bullhead ride brought Opher to Beacon. The campus teemed with activity; his was only one amongst a number of similar airships coming and going from the pads. As he disembarked, he noted another Bullhead dropping off uniformed troops. They weren't the helmeted, almost robotic-looking soldiers of Atlas. Clad in green, with white berets and black boots, these troops sported visible faces.

Among their formation, barely visible, was a short, swarthy woman with indigo hair. Opher grinned to himself and ceased walking to sit on a bench nearby. When the formation began to march, its trip down the avenue took it right past him. Indigo flashed Opher a surprised smile as she marched by.

Opher smirked in return, though he did take note of the extra weapon on her back: a sniper rifle he'd never seen before. There were markings on its barrel which he lacked the time to make out. Suddenly curious, he snatched up his bag and fell in behind them. As they walked he tried to guess at their number. A hundred, perhaps, surely the company Indigo had mentioned over the Scroll.

In the courtyard, they came to a halt, their apparent commander turning to regard her troops with a stern gaze and shockingly bellicose voice. "At attention!" she snapped. The entire formation came to a halt and stood stiffly.

Now Opher had to find somewhere else to sit; he eventually settled on another bench and watched the Valesian soldiers. Indigo, of course, received his particular attention; it was a little odd seeing her so rigid and tense. After a few moments, curious students began to gather on the fringes of the courtyard.

It wasn't long before Glynda appeared. While she directed a remark at some of the students which Opher couldn't hear, her clear objective was to speak with the officer in charge. Again, he couldn't hear the conversation without a little wind-weaving, but this time he chose to stay his hand. Whatever they were saying, he'd probably know soon enough anyway. The vociferous officer turned to her troops again. "Sergeant Stahl!" she bellowed.

"Ma'am!" Indigo replied, her posture even more inflexible than before.

"Approach," her commander ordered. Once Indigo arrived at the front of the formation, another muted discussion took place with Glynda. Some moments later, she issued a salute to her commander and walked, not back to her original position, but over to Opher.

"What's up," she greeted with a wave. "You been assigned a team yet?"

"I'm sure it won't be too much longer," he replied, waving briefly at Glynda. Sure enough, as the soldiers marched on, she began to move toward them. "Told you."

Indigo shifted her heavy rifle with a sigh. "Lucky bastard," she muttered.

Something about her tone made Opher blink, but he ran out of time to question it as Glynda arrived. "Well, here we are again," he greeted as he stood. "Am I gonna get a briefing or what?"

Glynda squinted at him for an instant before professionalism took over. "Certainly. If both of you would please follow me."

Indigo perked up with surprise. "Wait, me too? Why?"

They began to walk. "We have a team that needs some…" Glynda trailed off for a bit before deciding to be partially honest, "... _additional_ supervision if we're going to send them on a field mission."

Opher used the chance to vent a bit while keeping up appearances. "You're sticking me with the failures, aren't you?"

Glynda's eyes narrowed again. "Don't talk about my students in such derisive terms, Mister Riese."

Her icy tone did nothing to prevent Opher's smirk. "So, yes."

"Hold on. What kind of kids are we talking about?" Indigo asked. "I mean, if new guy isn't enough to wrangle 'em, why the hell would they listen to a regular soldier like me?"

"These aren't delinquents, Sergeant Stahl. Just students that need some extra guidance." They arrived at the administration building; Glynda pushed open the doors with a flick of her wrist. Team JNPR was already waiting in the lobby.

Based on the pitch of Jaune's voice, he was incredibly excited. "I can't believe we qualified for a field mission!" he chirped with glee. "We did it!"

"You've improved so much," Pyrrha said with a smile. "All that studying really paid off." Her mood evened out a bit when she saw Opher drawing near. "Or perhaps it was the extra credit that pushed us over the top," she added, that smile fading.

"Huh?" Jaune looked back over his shoulder. "Oh. Right."

Indigo detected the tension between them, but her proximity to Pyrrha rendered anything but quiet squirming impossible. She eventually hid behind her taller employee and stared at Glynda. "Are you serious?!" she whispered harshly. "Why would they need us? They've got Pyrrha-"

She rolled her eyes a bit and mumbled, "One famous fighter does not a team of Hunters make, Sergeant."

A few chuckles escaped before Opher patted Indigo on the head. "Calm down, Indy. Now then, about our little adventure?" he asked, dropping his bag on the floor in order to stretch his arms.

"Uh, yeah, about that?" Jaune said as he rose. "What's our assignment?"

Glynda flicked open her Scroll and held it out for Jaune, Indigo, and Opher to read while she explained. "You will be clearing Grimm from Coastal Sector Seven, just north of Mountain Glenn. Reports indicate a moderate infestation consisting of Beowolves and Creeps. We can't guarantee the threats will be all ground-based, however. That's why Sergeant Stahl will be accompanying you."

"Oh?" Opher said, looking down at his boss. "I feel like there's a story behind this."

"What?" Nah," Indigo countered with a snort. The muzzle of her sniper rifle tilted as she turned away, which made visible several thin white rings on the barrel. These were the markings Opher had seen previously.

Nora pointed them out before he could even open his mouth again. "Hey! What are those?" she said, darting over and staring at them. "Oooo, is this a kill count?"

"Well, I mean, kind of," Indigo confirmed hesitantly. She wiggled the gun out of Nora's grip and put some space between her and everyone else. "What about it?"

"Oh, wow. You've got like, sixty rings on that thing!" Nora gave Indigo a heavy clap on the back and grinned. "What were they?"

"Nevermores, mostly," Indigo replied, finally looking back at the sprightly girl. Her eye contact was brief and halting. "It's not really a big deal."

A curious Opher decided to save his uncomfortable boss and steer the conversation elsewhere. "Okay, okay. Back to business." He turned his gaze to Glynda. "What qualifies as a successful mission?"

She adjusted her glasses and snapped her Scroll closed. "Our quota for this sector is four hundred Grimm."

While Opher and Indigo simply nodded, Team JNPR had a bit more trouble with the number. Jaune reacted the most. "What?!" he blurted out. "Four… four hundred?! It took us twenty minutes to kill three last week!"

"Consider yourselves lucky," Glynda replied evenly. "Most of the second-year teams have a quota of one thousand a piece."

Pyrrha had to help steady a suddenly-woozy Jaune with one hand. "We're ready, Professor Goodwitch," she assured with a weak smile. "There are six of us, so that''s only… sixty-seven Grimm each, right?"

Her nervous laugh made Opher grin. "Gee, I'm a little disappointed. When do we leave?"

"Right now. There are still a few low-power communications rigs operating in the area. We'll be in touch. If Team JNPR's performance isn't adequate, either of you are authorized to send them back here." Glynda nodded to the open doors and actually put on a smile. "Your Bullhead is on Pad Four. Happy hunting."

A grim-looking Indigo started for the door right away. Opher waved to JNPR before he followed suit. "Come on, kids."

"We're not kids," Jaune reminded him with a vague scowl.

"Compared to Indy and I?" he countered, "You're absolutely kids."

* * *

Four young Hunters-in-training dropped from their hovering Bullhead like bricks into the sparse forest. Jaune and Pyrrha emitted the heaviest thuds on impact, even though both landed upright and crouched to absorb the energy. Nora adopted a tuck-and-roll approach when her feet hit the grass, tumbling head over heels with a giggle. Ren landed much like his heavily-armored teammates, but made less of a racket.

JNPR looked up as they collected themselves and watched Opher and Indigo exited next. Instead of striking the soil with thuds, or having to roll, both landed basically upright and with hardly a sound. "How'd you do that?" Nora asked, head tilted with curiosity.

"We've had more practice," Indigo stated. She regarded Opher with an approving smirk. "You weren't lying about combat jumps, were you, new guy?"

"Of course not." He paused briefly to adjust his hat and look around. "This is your home field, tell us about the terrain."

Indigo shed her beret and frowned at the oak trees. "Ocean's that way," she said, pointing to their left. "Whole area is rolling hills until the shoreline. Then it's just a cliff. Don't get backed up against it. Might be best to avoid going that way at all."

"Right, right," Opher confirmed with a thoughtful nod. "And which way is Mountain Glenn?"

"Ahead, but it's a ways off. Stay the hell away from there, too." Indigo decided to carry her sniper rifle as the group began to move. With the adrenaline from the jump wearing off, she returned to her squirming, awkward silence.

Pyrrha guessed at what was bothering her. "I see you still have my autograph," she remarked, noting her signature on Indigo's assault rifle. "Don't think you have to treat me any differently. We're all equal out here."

"Like hell we are," Opher said under his breath. After a moment, he added more loudly, "We need to decide on a campsite before too long. Somewhere easily defensible." Again, he looked to Indigo. "Any ideas?"

"We used to spend nights up in the trees in Forever Fall. These little twigs aren't sturdy enough for that." She swatted at one of the spindly trees on her way past. "And why are you asking me? You're the Huntsman. You make the call."

It was right about then that the party wandered into a wide clearing. Opher came to a stop and spread out his arms. "If you insist. What do we think about this spot?"

"Uh…" Jaune breathed; his expression indicated some intense thinking. "I mean, it's nice and all, but can we-" He stopped short and gasped when Indigo raised her sniper rifle and pointed it in his direction. " _What the heck_?!" he shrieked, ducking and turning away.

A mighty crack erupted as she pulled the trigger. The bullet flew between Jaune and Pyrrha as it left the clearing and struck a single Beowolf emerging from the trees. While JNPR remained stooped with horror, Opher simply blinked at the dead Grimm and turned away. "Good point. Lots of avenues of attack around here."

"Yep," Indigo said, spinning around to walk with him. "A clearing is fine, but something smaller." After a moment, she added loudly, "The number one rule of hunting Grimm: don't make it any harder for yourself than you have to."

"You could have warned us first!" Pyrrha snapped unhappily.

Indigo's retort cut right to the bone. "Or you could have had your heads on a swivel like actual Hunters. Good god, no wonder you needed two people to come with you." She glanced back at them and noticed Ren and Nora's constant, furtive glances. "Follow their lead. They've got the right idea." Indigo noticed that Pyrrha still had a faintly sour look on her face. "Didn't you say not to treat you any differently?"

"Yes ma'am," Pyrrha said at length.

Opher regarded their exchange with genuine approval. "Huh. Don't you sound like a leader?"

She pointed at the three gold bars on her sleeves with a smirk. "Hey, I earned these stripes." But in a flash her confidence waned. "I think I just told off Pyrrha Nikos. Oh man."

"She'll get over it," he said, eying the redhead as she continued to collect herself. "Besides, we're supposed to come back with students that are still breathing."

"True." Indigo came to an abrupt stop and raised her free hand. "Hold on. I see movement in the trees up ahead." The sound of Team JNPR readying their weapons made her smirk; the fact that Opher was barehanded save for his duffel bag erased that smile. "I hope you've got another neat trick up your sleeve, new guy."

"I've got plenty," he assured her, dropping his cargo as a pack of Beowolves emerged. Their ebony hordes stalked into view from all directions, forming a ring between them and the treeline. "I think they're mad at you for killing their friend."

"Guys? Is it just me or are we waaaaay outnumbered?" Jaune asked nervously.

"We need a plan," Pyrrha answered nervously. "Right now."

"Who needs a plan when you've got me?" Nora shouted, brandishing Magnhild's grenade launcher form and charging off. Ren gave chase, already opening fire.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Indigo discarded her heavy weapon in favor of her assault rifle and tried to cover their advance. Her ammunition was apparently Dust-laden; each time a bullet connected, it exploded in brilliant red flame. There were too many targets, however. Grimm flooded their position from all sides. "Shit! I can't shoot them all!"

Pyrrha and Jaune did they only thing they could think of at the moment: drop behind their shields and rush after their teammates to help. "We're coming!" Jaune yelled. "Nora, don't hit us!"

Grimm began to surround JNPR as they fought; meanwhile, more from behind moved to attack Indigo and Opher. She turned to cover their rear with her assault rifle. Without her suppressive fire, however, Jaune and his team began to suffer. "Too many!" he yelled, deflecting an endless rain of claws with his shield. "We gotta back up!"

"We're surrounded!" Pyrrha shouted in response. She flung her shield and used her Semblance to guide it through the air. Four or five Grimm lost their heads to its edge, but fresh reinforcements arrived in a heartbeat. "Nora! Cover us! We're moving back!"

"You got it!" she said. Magnhild suddenly emitted a hollow click. "Uh… I'm kinda empty over here!" With a twirling flourish, it became a hammer in her grasp. "All right, Ren, time to dash and bash."

He was already formulating a plan. "I'll draw their attention. You do what you do best."

The situation was even worse for Indigo; she had been forced to discard her assault rifle and now fired the sniper rifle as fast as she could cycle the bolt. "Now would be the time, new guy!" she shrieked at Opher.

With a shrug, he stepped between her and the charging Beowolves and lifted his tattooed arm skyward. He dropped to one knee so his open palm could come down hard upon the grass. "Enough is enough," he said quietly. Narrow spikes of glittering ice erupted from the soil, impaling the Grimm and lifting most of them right off the ground.

It took four full seconds for the rest of his party to register the effect and stop hammering, shooting or trying to stab their now-dying foes. "Uh…" Indigo lowered her sniper rifle and looked around. "Wow."

"I…" Pyrrha lost her train of thought and watched the Grimm slowly vaporize and drift away on the summer breeze for a moment. "How do you _do_ that, Opher?"

Opher picked up his bag and walked forth to examine his handiwork. "There's this stuff called Dust? Not sure if you've heard of it."

"Ha, ha, funny." Jaune reflexively stepped back a bit as Opher moved past. By now the Grimm had faded away, leaving only his wall of ice behind. "I've never seen any of the teachers pull off stuff like you."

Indigo, now following Opher, was clearly the least perturbed. "I thought Hunters did things like that all the time," she stated plainly. JNPR's expressions told her otherwise. "What? No?"

Pyrrha reinforced the point with a shake of her head. "Absolutely not! I've never-not _empty-handed_ -"

Opher shut her up with an empty stare. "Different people use Dust differently, Pyrrha."

Nora couldn't care less about the mechanics. "Who cares? He killed 'em all. That's what counts."

"But…" Pyrrha clenched her fists and finally decided to let the matter drop. "Right. Let's just move on."

It was clear to Indigo that something weird was afoot, but she couldn't place her finger on exactly what. One thing was clear: Opher had history with JNPR, or at least the redhead. Something in Pyrrha's initial question said this wasn't the first time she'd seen Opher fight. Had he been the reason she'd ended up at Diamond Dust in the first place? "Yeah, well," she began, setting those thoughts aside, "Just because mister badass is along for the ride doesn't mean you four get to slack off. Come on."

"I hope somebody counted those Grimm," Opher said idly. "Don't we need a kill tally?" Despite the playful tone, his brain was racing about as fast as Indigo's. How much power could he show without becoming suspicious? Was it already too late? He glanced back at his boss briefly. Then he stared down an antsy Pyrrha until Jaune and Nora got her attention. While they talked, Opher began to melt away the ice. The fire in his right hand flickered as he dealt with another, bigger problem. Not running was one thing, a relatively easy matter to pull off. Not _hiding_ his true self was another.

Indigo startled him back into reality. "Your hand's on fire," she noted with a smirk. Amazement softened her features. "That doesn't hurt? Really?"

"If it did, I wouldn't be doing it," he replied. An awful shattering off to their left made both tense up and look. It was an impatient Nora, hammering through the frozen spikes with Magnhild. "So much for being quiet!" he snapped with displeasure.

"Don't mind us. We're just gonna do some, uh, scouting!" an unconvincing Jaune assured Opher. "Yeah! Won't be far. If we need any help, Nora will…" He trailed off and looked at her. "...do Nora stuff. You'll hear it."

Pyrrha tried a little harder than her leader. "We're going to look for a spot to set camp. I'll shoot off a signal flare if we find somewhere suitable. Look for a red light in the sky."

"Hold on, shouldn't we go with you?" Indigo asked with a cocked brow.

The redhead smiled sweetly. "You did say we shouldn't rely on Opher, right? I mean, we're going to be Hunters one day. We need the experience."

"Oh." Indigo's face dropped a bit. "Fair enough."

"Let them go," Opher advised, dismissing the fire in his palm and glaring at the ice. "We'll be right behind them anyway."

Team JNPR took their leave in a hasty, almost bumbling fashion. They rushed into the forest and, after checking to see how closely they'd been pursued, picked up the conversation Indigo and Opher had ignored earlier. "Okay, like, he's Professor Goodwitch strong," Nora noted lowly. "That's no joke."

Even Ren had an observation to add. "I can't figure out how he uses Dust. Did any of you see him holding some?" Negative replies from his teammates caused a light scowl. "Pyrrha, you know the most about Opher. Any ideas?"

"No." Her brow furrowed. "He did the same thing that night Team RWBY and I spoke with him at his apartment. It's like the elements are just connected with his whims."

"And he can fly," Jaune interjected dourly. "Who _is_ this guy? You think the professors know?"

Pyrrha's brow furrowed even more. "I'm sure they must, but we're not in any position to ask questions, are we?"

This didn't sit well with Nora, who growled, "Why not? It's our butts on the line out here."

"I mean, they wouldn't put Opher with us if they thought he was gonna kill us." Jaune's mind drifted back to the initiation where Professor Ozpin was more than content, it seemed, with hurling his new students off of cliffs. That image softened his confidence. "Er… probably."

Nora continued to search the trees for threats. "Honestly? I get the feeling we'd already be dead if he wanted us that way."

"He wouldn't do that, but I admit we're sort of flying blind. We just-" A low rumble, felt in their shoes more than heard, silenced Pyrrha mid-sentence. "What was that?"

Jaune brandished sword and shield as he searched the forest along with Ren and Nora. "I don't-" It came again, and again. "Wait. Footsteps?"

"Must be some big..." Nora went still as she saw the source of the noise: the ebony legs of a towering Goliath. The creature was so large and close they had to crane their necks to see its head. It had clearly noticed something, but continued trundling away after a brief glance down and to their side. "I'm gonna need a bigger hammer," she added after a few moments.

"Gee, sure woulda been nice if Professor Goodwitch had mentioned there'd be _Goliaths_ here," Jaune hissed with barely-restrained terror.

"Eh, you leave the big guys alone, they leave you alone."

They spun to see Indigo leading Opher along almost nonchalantly. She had been the one speaking. "Saw 'em up at Forever Fall, too, sometimes. Being around a Goliath was almost the safest place in the whole forest. They'd chase off the little Grimm."

"Good to know!" Jaune gasped, his breath finally returning as the massive Grimm skulked out of sight. "Where were we? Oh, right, campsite. Gotta find a campsite."

"We're right behind you," Indigo assured him. "Go. Go forth and be baby Hunters." As the party got moving, she dropped back to Opher's side and muttered, "Hey. New guy."

Opher something bad was coming thanks to her serious tone. "What?"

Her mind had gotten stuck on his relationship to Pyrrha again, and this time she couldn't push clear of those questions. "I think we need to have a talk later."

* * *

The acrid smell of something he couldn't identify stung Opher's nose as he waited on Indigo to finish her final walkabout. He wasn't the only one on watch; Nora stalked through the forest, barely more than crunches of undergrowth and occasional sparkles of evening sunlight off of Magnhild at this distance. Opher kept his gaze fixed until all signs of her presence disappeared.

And then Indigo popped up on his right side. "Jaune picked a nice place," she said quietly. "He's got some potential."

Opher smirked a little at her assessment. "I get the feeling that anything he knows, he learned from Pyrrha."

"No shame in that. I could probably learn a little from her myself." Indigo leaned her sniper rifle on a tree trunk nearby and glared into the woods. She seized Opher's mention of the redhead and got right to her point. "Speaking of Pyrrha… what's the deal?"

Now he had his answer: it _was_ too late. Indigo had gotten the hint. Part of him thought it was amusing to hear this question again. "Deal? There's no deal."

Her ochre eyes glittered with annoyance. "Bullshit."

Of course she knew better. Indigo wasn't stupid. Opher measured how far he was willing to go with the truth and took a breath. "What do you know about Aura?"

His question caught her out, but only for an instant. She placed her hands on her hips and glared. "Huh? What's that got to do with anything?"

Opher turned his back on her with a sigh. "It's got everything to do with everything. Pyrrha came into contact with me by accident when she visited Diamond Dust the first time. I don't think she liked what she saw."

This was a little beyond Indigo's understanding. Her eyes widened. "Your Aura? She can see it?"

"Yeah." When Opher faced Indigo again, he allowed his ashen essence to flare to life. The sight made her gasp with surprise. "Anyone can see it if I let them."

"What the hell..." Indigo couldn't help but poke at the gray fog; like Glynda, she also found it solid despite its squirming. "The fuck. Is this your Semblance or something?" She leaped back when it changed shape, sprouting from his back in the form of multiple arms. "Whoa!"

He smirked again as his Aura reverted to its misty form. "Don't get me started about Semblances. Anyway, Pyrrha went to Ozpin about this, it freaked her out so much. I've been back and forth to Beacon while he tries to figure things out."

"Are you…" She trailed off, tapping at the gray haze again. "Sick? Or something? I don't…"

Ner concern made him smile a little. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm just not willing to tell _him_ much." The fog was gone, as if Opher had hit a switch. "I have my reasons."

"Huh." Indigo's expression grew stormy. "So the people that were after you knew this already? Did you lie to me?"

Opher shook his head once. "No. They found out the hard way." Disbelief still dominated her expression. "Trust me, I made it very clear to them to leave you alone."

Indigo crossed her arms and stared him down. "How clear?"

He met her gaze with cold eyes. "Remember the girl you caught outside your apartment? I electrocuted her and threw her off the roof."

"No you didn't." Her expression had to soften because Opher's wouldn't, no matter how long she looked at him. "You _killed_ her?"

He danced around the awkward truth with a little shrug. "I don't take kindly to people that hurt my friends." Abruptly, he turned away. "And you're the only one of those I've got right now."

"I…" Words failed her; Indigo wallowed in the awkward silence for a while instead. "Guess that's two things we've got in common, then."

Opher looked at her over his shoulder. "Eh?"

Now it was Indigo turning her back on the conversation. She walked off and grabbed her sniper rifle. "Never mind," she said lowly.

It took a moment for him to get the gist, but his eyes lit up once he did. "You've got a distinct lack of Army buddies, don't you?" he wondered out loud. "Actually, it seems like Schwarze is your only friend besides me. If I even count."

"Nah, you count," Indigo nodded, hugging her assault rifle with one arm. "As for not having any friends from the Army, well, they didn't care much for my role in the service. Nobody in their right mind would."

Unsure of whether or not he wanted to force out the admission she seemed to be on the cusp of, Opher shrugged once and tried to sugar-coat things a little. "I'm guessing we've both done some awful shit."

After a heavy breath, Indigo looked up at him. "Yeah, but I didn't put these marks on the barrel. The Army did."

"Huh?" She was unwilling to elucidate, or even make eye contact, so he searched for a change of subject. The breeze picked up and brought a renewed wave of the acrid odor from earlier. Face screwed up, Opher peered back in the direction of the campsite. "The hell is that smell?"

Indigo sigh with relief and glanced over as well. "Ren's cooking something. Hell if I know what." Her jaw set. "How did we end up talking about me again, damn it?" After letting Opher snicker, she hit him with a more prickly question. "Do you and Pyrrha know each other or something? From before you came to Vale, I mean."

Opher's reply was immediate and absolute. "Nope."

"Oh." Indigo seemed a little more cheerful now. "Your Aura is really fucking weird, by the way."

Her reward for that statement was a wry smirk. "Gee, thanks."

"Uh huh." And suddenly she was a bit sheepish again. "While we're out here swapping secrets… you never told me about your ink. Does it mean anything special?"

Everything about Indigo struck Opher as incredibly familiar; slouched on her feet and staring into the woods, she was the spitting image of his long departed mother. He glanced down at his tattoos and back at her. "It sure does. It's a record of everything I've lost."

"Oh, god damn it." But when Opher shrugged off her remorse, an emboldened Indigo took his left hand in hers to examine those symbols closer. "So… these are words? I can't read this shit."

He suppressed the actual reality with a little joke. "Sorry, that tattoo artist's handwriting was pretty bad. I should have asked for a refund." Watching Indigo try to make heads or tails of the dead language that covered his skin made him smile further, until he reminded himself that one day, be it his fault or not, her name would occupy that space too.

Unless the Maidens' might had grown in line with his own. That slim hope gave Opher just enough of a reason to keep smiling.


	14. Chapter 14

"Tag out."

Opher could barely hear those words over the persistent breeze, but he knew it was Nora's voice. Three times between naps he'd watched her and Ren as they carried out their weird little changing of the guard. It was like magic; one would wake up the moment the other arrived back at camp. After thirty seconds or so of collecting their faculties, whoever took over would mutter "tag out" and depart. The whole process finished in less than two minutes. Opher understood now why Jaune and Pyrrha raised no objection when their teammates demanded the job.

As Ren settled down, Opher himself thought about catching another cat nap. Several moments of trying with his eyes closed yielded no success. Too many thoughts bounced around in his brain to allow it. Most of his thinking regarded Cinder and why she, of all people, would know anything about what a Maiden's might looked like. Ozpin and his little gang had access to all sorts of information as part of their work, surely, but Cinder? No amount of contemplation could bring him a satisfactory answer. So long as she maintained her end of their bargain, it didn't matter much. In fact, it wouldn't really matter in the long run either way. Still, the question was a source of great curiosity.

Faint ringing forced him to return to the present. It wasn't his Scroll going off, nor Indigo's; Opher eventually tracked the noise to Jaune's bag. The lanky blonde needed a few seconds to startle awake, then a few more to actually get the thing out. "Can't believe we actually get reception out here," he said quietly. His next word after answering was a sleepy "Yang?"

Interest piqued, Opher stood up, grabbed his bag, and moved toward Jaune to better hear the conversation. "What? No, we haven't seen her. Huh? You're breaking up, Yang. Hello?" Jaune glanced up as Opher arrived. "Ruby? She's gone?"

Hearing that name turned Opher's curiosity from idle to anxious. Ruby was the only other person to have seen Cinder last night; he couldn't help but put the two events together. "Let me talk to her," he ordered quietly. Jaune handed over his Scroll. "Yang? What's going on?"

"Oh, hey Opher," she greeted through the static. Despite her apparent cheer, it was easy for him to sense the worry in her voice. "Ruby kind of went 'poof' on us."

Weiss' voice came through next. "Doctor Oobleck, should we split up? We'd cover more ground."

"I don't recommend it. This area of the city is geologically unstable. We need to stick together in case one of us falls in," said a fast-talking man that Opher didn't recognize. "Speaking of which, if Miss Rose herself fell in…"

Yang cut him off; it sounded like she'd already started walking. "Oh, great. The last time anyone saw these caves they were full of Grimm."

Opher had heard enough. "You want our help?"

"Eh, it might not be a bad idea. Hey, Professor-"

"Doctor!"

"Whatever. Opher wants to know if he should come down here with JNPR to help us look."

"It would take much too long to call in a Bullhead to pick them up," Oobleck stated.

"Tell him I don't need a Bullhead and we're on our way." Opher hung up and tossed Jaune his Scroll. "Wake your team. We're moving."

"You got it." Jaune unleashed a painfully shrill whistle. Pyrrha and Ren were awake immediately and sat up to look around. "Minor emergency. Team RWBY is missing the R. We're gonna help look for her."

"Of course," Pyrrha nodded.

The members of JNPR weren't the only ones awake. "What the hell is going on?" a grumpy Indigo muttered. Her mood changed when she saw Opher walking over with purpose. "Something happen?" she asked, grabbing both of her rifles off the grass.

"We're taking a little trip to Mountain Glenn." Opher paused briefly as he saw Nora stumble into view from between the trees. "All of you, line up over here," he commanded, then turned back to Indigo. "Which way did you say it was again?"

"That way," she said, pointing to the right. Her expression became suspicious. "What are you gonna do?"

He looked back again with a grin as JNPR formed up. "I'm about to teach these kids how to fly."

"Wait, really?" Jaune stepped back as Opher executed a vicious series of sweeping hand motions directed to their side. A wide trail of ice formed and lengthened on the forest floor. "What are you doing?"

Opher snapped his right arm up and produced what looked like a large spire of ice some distance away. "We need a runway, don't we?"

"Is that a ramp?" a squinting Indigo wondered aloud. Her face suddenly dropped. "Wait. No. Are you fucking nuts?!"

"All aboard," he replied with a smirk, and stepped onto the ice. "I'll bring up the rear. Come on. Let's go."

JNPR did as told, although Pyrrha was almost as reluctant about the idea as Indigo. "Can you really handle controlling _all_ of us in the air?" the redhead asked.

"Oh, Pyrrha," Opher said with a widening grin, "You underestimate me." The second Indigo had taken her place on the ice, he stretched his arms straight out behind him and ducked his head.

The resultant blast of wind sounded like an exploding hurricane. JNPR, Indigo, and Opher shot down the icy track like bullets from a gun. The trees whipped by at breakneck pace, barely more than smears of dark color to their wide eyes. They hit the slope in fifteen seconds and flew almost straight up. "Forget it! I don't wanna learn how to fly! I don't wannaaaaaa!" Jaune yelled unhappily, his arms flailing as the forest plummeted away from underneath them.

Opher saw the broken skyline of Mountain Glenn in the distance and drew back his tattooed arm. "Too late!" he shouted, an awful gale rushing forward as he pushed his left hand toward his companions.

"How in the fucking hell are we gonna get down?!" Indigo shrieked, her voice cracking under the strain.

"Let me worry about that!" Each time gravity began to win the fight and curve them gently toward the ground, Opher intervened to shoot them forward. Four of these bounces brought the party directly over Mountain Glenn. Opher let the group fall for a bit as he guessed at their altitude. "Time to land!" he declared, pointing both hands up so the next malestrom killed all of their forward momentum. They dropped like stones into the ruins, their impact cushioned by a final bubble of air from Opher's outstretched hands. "See?" he began, wiping the sweat off his brow, "That wasn't so bad." He watched Indigo stumble away, drop to her knees, and kiss the cracked asphalt. "Stop being so dramatic."

Nora was still enjoying the high. "That was fun!" she chirped, bouncing on her feet. She leaned back in the face of a dry-heaving Jaune. "Ew… puke the other way."

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!"

Everyone's gaze went to a waving Yang. She walked along the broken street with Weiss on one side and Blake on the other. Oobleck brought up the rear. "Now _that_ was an entrance!" the blonde added approvingly. "Did any of you see Ruby on the way down?"

"I'm not sure any of us had much of a chance to look," Pyrrha said, still catching her breath. A tiny, faraway noise made her glance up. "Did you hear that?"

Weiss had; she stepped away from the assembly and tilted her head in concentration. When it came again, she immediately started running in the direction from which it echoed. "Barking! That must be Zwei!"

The entire congregation took off running after her except for Indigo and Oobleck. Opher went back to help the former when he saw her lagging behind; in the process of seeing to her, he noticed Oobleck's apparent interest in his tattoo sleeve. "Eh? What?"

"Hmm," the doctor murmured before he took off after his charges.

Opher stared at him briefly. "Okay…" He shrugged it off. "Indy. Come on."

She swatted at his grip and stood straight on her own. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

They caught up around the corner of a ruined skyscraper and found the group standing in the middle of a four-way intersection. Zwei's happy barking drowned out all other sound until Opher and Indigo were right on top of the group. Yang showed them the folded-up Crescent Rose and pointed to a nearby hole. "We've got a big problem," she said.

"Oh boy. Wonder what's down there?" Jaune kept his distance from the opening, too worried the pavement might vanish from beneath his own feet if he approached.

"My sister, that's what." Yang nodded over at Weiss and Blake. "I'll lead the way."

"No. You won't." A grinning Opher slicked back his brown hair and pushed through the crowd. With bag in hand, he stepped into the gap and disappeared.

Indigo darted over and looked down. "That motherfucker is insane," she said. "And so am I, I guess. I'm coming home!"

They all watched her take a slightly unceremonious tumble into the abyss and shared a look. "Let's be off, students," Oobleck said. "Time is of the essence."

* * *

Opher and Indigo skittered along the roof of the decrepit apartment complex upon which they landed. "Holy hell, I think I can literally see my house from here," Indigo noted as she swept her assault rifle around. The only other sounds they heard were of Team JNPR and the others dropping in behind them. Even Zwei came along, barking happily as he ran circles around Yang's boots. "Think we're clear, new guy."

"Yeah." Opher dismissed the blue flame in his left hand and waved the others over. "Where do we even _start_ to look for her?"

"I don't think she's up here," Yang replied. She scanned the ruins and frowned. "Ruby gets pretty cautious when she doesn't have Crescent Rose. She's gotta be laying low somewhere."

"Even with ten of us, this is a lot of ground to cover." Weiss looked over at Oobleck. "Should we-"

He nodded once. "Yes! I believe the only way we will find Miss Rose is to split up. The three of you will accompany me along the rooftops. Mister Riese, the Sergeant, and Team JNPR can check the streets."

"You know my name?" Opher asked, head cocked.

"Certainly. Miss Xiao Long told me." He broke away with his charges. "Keep on the lookout! Grimm may yet still occupy these ruins. If you should need assistance-"

Indigo, and Jaune were already at the edge of the roof and looking down. "Yeah, I get it. We're off," Opher said. "Let's go."

Her rifle shouldered, Indigo was the first to jump, quickly followed by Opher and Team JNPR. When she stood up out of the crouch and examined her surroundings, she blurted out, "Holy shit! This _is_ my house! I used to live in that building."

"Oh. That's… nice," a tense Pyrrha replied, her eyes darting in every direction. "How are we going to keep track of the others?"

"I'll handle that." Opher took stock of their location, noting the particular ruins and the spear of light from above that marked the hole leading up. Every breath left his body in a little puff of fog, but this wasn't his doing with ice Dust. "Cold down here. Wish I'd remembered my hat."

"We're underground, what do you expect?" Indigo warily shuffled forward. "It's all coming back to me," she added lowly, a mental map of the area reforming in her brain with each passing second. "Okay. That big building at the end of the street is the old hospital. We go left from there, we find the train tunnel access. If we go right, there's an emergency shelter."

"Hey, should _we_ split up?" Nora asked as she skipped down the broken sidewalk.

Opher shook his head at that idea. "I'd rather we all stick with someone who knows where they're going. Besides…" He trailed off and suddenly rocketed toward the ceiling on a terrific gust of air. The rest of his statement came after after he'd touched down again from that jump. "...I can provide a bird's-eye view anytime. The others are heading left across the hospital roof. They might have seen something."

Indigo nodded at him. "Then we'd better hurry."

At first they ran full-speed, but the clattering caused by Jaune and Pyrrha's armor bounced for ages off of every hard surface in the dead city. "We're too loud," the redhead noted as she slid to a stop. "If there are any Grimm around, they'll hear us for miles."

"Unless we just made them all deaf," Jaune said with a wince. The ringing in his ears was almost unbearable. "Ren, Nora, you guys move up with Opher and Indigo. We'll watch your backs and just, I dunno, jog quietly." He jerked toward his left in response to movement on the edge of his vision. "Hey, I saw something in that alley right there!" He pointed his sword at it to guide the others, but they wouldn't turn and look. "Guys?"

"So have we," Ren said grimly. From around each corner and out of every alleyway, White Fang emerged with blades drawn and weapons aimed. Within seconds, Opher and friends found themselves outnumbered at least seven to one.

Nora gripped Magnhild tightly, but there was still a smile on her face. "Somebody give me a shock and we'll get this over with _real_ quick."

While everyone else raised their various shields and weapons to defend themselves, Opher let his bag drop to the dusty ground and smiled. Given the circumstances, he no longer felt a need to avoid bringing up his previous escapades. "I figured you guys would know better than to fuck with _me_ again."

"It's him!" one of the White Fang shouted. "The tattoo guy from the industrial district!"

Indigo glanced at Opher with a confused frown. "What the hell have you been up to?"

"I really need to stop going on walks at night, I guess." A series of sharp crackles erupted as pink lightning darted between the fingers on his right hand. He raised that hand as one of the White Fang stepped forward. When that person lowered their kama and raised their mask, however, he decided to stay his attack. "Huh?"

A pallid Violet stared him down, her features marked with anxious resignation. "We meet again. God must really hate my ass."

Jaune shifted positions so he could view the conversation. "So, uh, you know her? Is she a friend? Is she _not_ going to try and murder us?"

"'Friend' is pushing it." Opher nodded at Violet's colleagues and crossed his arms. "Are we really gonna do this? You know what happened last time."

Violet coiled slowly into a fighting stance and smiled. The worry left her features, replaced by bitter determination. "What choice have I got? The way I see it, we're dead either way. Either you kill us, or _they_ do. It all turns out the same."

While Opher and Violet had their chat, Pyrrha used her Semblance to subtly poke at all the White Fang's weapons. She could grab the bladed ones easily enough, but the guns were made of a metal that defied her power. "Jaune," she whispered over her shoulder, "I can't disarm all of them. What do we do?"

He was at a loss; after a silent period of hard thinking he could only come up with one idea, and even that came out as a half-joking question. "Can you stop bullets?"

"I've…" The redhead's face went blank. "I've never tried."

"Looks like you might get your shot. I think they're getting ready," Nora added quietly. She grumbled after realizing her unintentional pun. "I've been hanging around Yang too much."

Indigo shifted her aim to a pair of White Fang with firearms. "Take out the ones with guns first," she muttered to Ren. "We need a range advantage."

Their number began to advance as one from all sides, but before those White Fang with guns could open fire, Opher flicked his left arm up. A ring of ice sprouted from the street, cutting the two parties off from each other. Its top loomed above them as high as the buildings.

"Oh, yeah! You can do… that," Jaune said with a smile. He listened to the White Fang shout with confusion beyond the barrier. "Nice. Guess it's time for us to leave, right? Back to the rooftops?"

"No. You're all going to stay here," Opher replied, cracking his knuckles, "because I apparently need to go make a point."

Pyrrha and Indigo let out a confused "What?" together; that was the only chance anyone had to speak before Opher launched himself up and out of their sight.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Indigo shrieked, dropping her gun and dashing over to the ice. "Opher!" She banged uselessly on it with both fists as the reverberating cacophony of battle erupted around them. "You fucking moron!"

Despite being safe from the bullets, Jaune couldn't help but duck as gunfire broke out. "Nora! Break the wall!" he ordered hastily. "We gotta help him!"

"Yeah!" Magnhild's shaft flexed with the fury of her swing, only to strike the thick ice and bounce awkwardly away. "Hold on, let me try that again." This time, Nora drove with her right leg and swung sideways. Her reward was another bounce, although this time a small shard of ice detached with the blow. "It's not working!"

"What do you mean it's not working?!" Jaune snapped. "Shoot grenades!"

"Are you crazy? There's not enough room. I'd kill us!" she fired back.

"Right. Point taken." He looked around for another option. "Uh… uh… Pyrrha! Can you launch us over?"

The redhead had been eying that possibility already. She winced when something struck the ice wall near her with a heavy thud. Whatever had hit, it caused renewed screaming among the White Fang. "There are too many of them out there! Whoever goes first might… might..."

Indigo picked up her rifle and dashed over to Pyrrha. "Throw me! I was trained for this shit! Throw me! Come on!" The redhead could do nothing but stare at her. "Damn it!" Indigo screamed desperately. " _Throw_ _me_!"

"But… but I…" Pyrrha's blood turned to ice as she tried to decide who to sacrifice. "I can't just…"

"Me!" Jaune said as he rushed to them. "I'll distract them until you can get more of us out there."

"No way, I should go!" Nora shouted. "I can take out lots of them at once!"

Ren stood by his childhood friend and looked up at the top of the ice. "I won't let Nora go alone. Pyrrha, whenever you're ready."

At various volumes, her companions kept on begging Pyrrha to launch them into the fight. Between their voices and the horrible racket of the battle outside, the situation left her completely overwhelmed. She stumbled back with her eyes tightly shut. How could she decide which of these people to cast into the waiting arms of a horde of White Fang? Her green eyes flew open when the answer came. If anyone should go, it had to be _her._ With a guttural roar, Pyrrha's Semblance flared to life and flung her off the pavement. She cleared Opher's ice wall and looked down to see ten, maybe twenty of them engaged in hand-to-hand combat with him. Not an unexpected sight, certainly, but the longer she looked at it the easier it became to see something wrong with the picture.

Opher wasn't retreating in the face of such an onslaught. There was nothing defensive about his motions; swings and kicks lit up by fire and lightning pierced the White Fang's numbers, and bodies, like knives. As Pyrrha began to drop like a stone, her focus switched to finding a target. She landed feet-first near a young man with deer antlers trying to aim a rifle at Opher. One wide swing of her shield knocked him out before he could fire. "Opher! I'm here!"

He didn't even have time to respond; some of his opponents left the losing fight against him and fell upon Pyrrha with desperate violence. Whenever she felt a blade strike her shield, she used her Semblance to wrest it free and send it flying off into the darkness. Unlike Opher, however, she found it impossible to manage their numbers and slowly began to retreat. "Get away from me!" she shrieked, hurling every piece of metal she could detect at her foes to make them scatter.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune screamed.

His voice barely made it past the ice wall and her own thumping heartbeat. As she backed away, ducked behind her shield and unable to mount an offense, three of her attackers suddenly became engulfed in flames. The others scattered with shrieks of terror, only to be cut down by flying lances of ice. Pyrrha soon found herself cornered against a pile of rubble with no one to fight.

That didn't mean she was alone, however. A persistent whimpering caught her ear as she stood up. She looked to her left and found Violet cowering behind the junk with shaking hands over her human ears. Upon looking back to where the fight had been, she saw a graveyard of White Fang. A few of the corpses still burned. Some were missing limbs. Others had icy spikes jutting out of their flesh.

Opher, unharmed, blood-soaked and smiling, strode through the carnage toward Pyrrha. "I should have known you wouldn't listen."

When it her that he wasn't injured, not even _scratched_ , Pyrrha lowered her arms and stared at him. "You're not… but how?"

A few seconds later, reinforcements arrived in the form of Yang, arms up and ready to fight. "Help is…" She came to an awkward stop and looked around. "...on the way? Whoa."

Her teammates and Oobleck arrived a moment later. While the Huntsman kept any emotion to himself, the girls were unable to mask their horror. "What happened?" Blake muttered. "Who…" She noticed the bloody Opher and took a step back. "You?!"

"Yeah, me," he confirmed flatly, his eyes on the red splotches that covered his yellow shirt. "Good thing I brought clothes."

Weiss decided to avert her eyes and instead focus on the sounds of the people in Opher's icy cage. "Hold on!" she called, summoning a few glyphs and wrapping them in fire to melt a way out for them.

Nora busted free first with Ren right behind her. They were so stunned by the massacre that they both stopped in their tracks. Jaune noticed too late and ran right into the stout girl. "My bad," he apologized. "Is everyone…" At last, he saw the bloodbath and recoiled with horror. "No, no, everyone is _not_ okay. Holy crap. Wow."

Indigo emerged last with Opher's bag in hand. She regarded the scene with only a furtive glance, but reacted more to the man who was responsible. "Damn, man. I didn't think you were _this_ good at kicking people's asses."

"I may have been underselling myself a little bit." Opher caught the bag when she threw it toward him and unzipped it. "What are we all standing around for?" he asked as he changed into a black shirt. "Don't we have a Ruby to save?"

"You… you _monster_ ," Blake hissed. Not even Yang's hand on her shoulder could stop her angry glare.

"Later," the blonde quietly urged her partner. "We gotta go."

Oobleck took one blank look at the scene before turning to leave. "There appears to be some activity near the train tunnels. Perhaps we might find Miss Rose there."

"Lead the way, then." Opher fell in behind him as he started to move. A stone-faced Indigo was by his side in a second.

The rest of them, however, weren't so quick to follow. Opher's actions weren't the only reason. The quiet sound of Violet's crying had become audible again and no one knew what to do. "Should we… help her?" Weiss asked awkwardly as she peeked into the rubble. "I don't think she's hurt."

"I don't know. Let's just go," Yang advised, her face screwed up at the corpses scattered haphazardly on the ground. "We need to find Ruby."

Nora was the first to heed her advice. "Come on," she mumbled, taking Ren by the hand and leading him quickly away. Pyrrha, exhausted and speechless, went next; Jaune stuck to her like glue but couldn't find any reassuring words. Yang, Weiss, and Blake followed them as a group. "That man certainly hasn't gotten any _less_ brutal with time, has he?" Weiss observed with a scowl.

Yang tossed her blonde locks and sighed. "Yeah, no kidding. I thought Torchwick was bad. Opher might actually be worse, even if he is on our side."

As usual, Blake had nothing to say. Her teammates were acutely aware of her seething, despite all efforts on her part to avoid eye contact. She had to respond, eventually, simply because Yang wouldn't stop looking at her. "Why can't he just knock them out?" Frustration at their awkward silence caused Blake to bare her teeth. "Nobody deserves to die like this. Nobody."

"I know, it's-" Yang heaved a sigh and rubbed her forehead. "Look, just, whatever. Let's get this over with, then we'll deal with Opher."

"Yes, of course," Weiss muttered. "Whatever that means." The man himself caught her eye as she looked forward again; he was jogging toward them.

As much as Blake wanted to unleash a tongue-lashing, she kept her mouth shut as Opher passed. "I dropped a Dust crystal somewhere," he explained nonchalantly. "Back in a second."

Weiss looked over her shoulder and watched him walk. A knot began to form in her stomach when she realized he'd disappeared near the rubble pile where Violet had been hiding. "What is he…?" she whispered. The longer Opher stayed out of view, the uneasier she felt.

"Weiss? Something the matter?" Yang asked, a brow slightly raised.

"No," she finally replied as she turned forward with a blank look. "No. Nothing at all."

* * *

Work, or at least as close as Roman Torchwick ever got to it, could wait. Right now, getting some kicks and a small measure of revenge were his priorities. "Oh, little red," he sneered at Ruby as she lay on the dirt. "What am I gonna do with you?" He glanced up at the top of the tunnel and smirked. "Whatever I want, obviously, but you know what I'm getting at."

Consciousness had just come back to her, and with it a burning ache in her abdomen from blows delivered when she'd been out. Unbowed, Ruby tugged herself to her feet and put on the best war face she could manage. "You'll have to catch me first, jerk."

Roman twirled Melodic Cudgel a few times as he paced. "Haven't I already done that?" He stopped briefly to point at one of the White Fang walking by. "Nah, credit where credit is due. Good job, Perry."

While the main chamber of the underground complex was behind Ruby, she couldn't make a break for it until Roman had been distracted. Her mind raced for ideas to this end. She went with something she didn't think he'd expect: a Semblance dash right _at_ him instead of away, then another to escape while he was off-balance. Ruby twisted into a rotating crimson smear as she called on her ability and shot past him into the tunnel.

"Hey!" he shouted, unable to train his weapon on her until she slid to a stop a few yards away. "Don't you start with-" He growled as she again became a blazing red spiral and flew right by. "I am losing my patience with you, little red!"

Ruby ran for all she was worth toward the city chamber, though the momentum from her Semblance faded quickly. Each step sent burning needles of pain through her ribs, but she kept her legs pumping.

"Where do you think you're going?" Roman yelled. He flipped Melodic Cudgel in his grip so the handle pointed at her and fired.

Ruby heard the shot, but felt no impact; determined to keep running until something stopped her, she made it to the first row of buildings before her hood caught on something and yanked her right off of her feet. A grunt escaped as she hit the ground. "Oww… what just happened?" she gasped, wincing with misery. Whatever was stuck in her cape began to tug until started sliding across the dirt. "Hey! No!"

Roman hauled in his flailing catch and flashed a wicked grin. "Now I have to figure out how you're gonna pay for that. Poor me." Two distant explosions erased his smile. "What was… hey, somebody go see what that was! I'm busy." When he saw a panicking horde of White Fang running toward him, guns blazing away at some unseen foe, Roman decided to unhook Ruby so he could have his weapon ready. "I should have known you'd bring friends."

A booming "Where's my sister?!" emerged from the abandoned structures before Yang herself did. She fired Ember Celica at some of the fleeing White Fang as she ran.

"Oh. Well, then." Roman figured he could handle one angry sibling easily enough. Then Blake and Weiss came into view, as did Oobleck, Team JNPR, Opher, and Indigo. His brow furrowed. "Whoa! I had no idea you were such a social butterfly." Zwei's sudden appearance made him blink. "Or that you spoke dog."

Ruby paid him no mind as she got up to run again. "Yang!" she yelled, waving her arms. "Did you bring-"

"Of course!" The blonde hurled Crescent Rose toward her sister and kept firing to chase off the guards.

The weapon landed in her grasp; she unfolded it with a twirling flourish and spun around to face her captor. "How dare you call my _baby_ a gardening tool," she growled, aiming it at him.

"Oooookay, this is getting out of hand. _Perry_!" Roman screamed toward the front of the train, "Couple this car! It's time we left the station!"

"B-but sir, the train isn't-"

"Don't care! Everyone who isn't interested in dying, all aboard!" Roman pulled himself up into the car and slammed the doors shut.

"Quickly! We must board before they depart!" Oobleck shouted at his students.

How they accomplished this was as varied as the people and animal themselves, but Opher simply took Indigo by the hand and blasted both of them onto the roof of the car as the train began to move. While both teams collected themselves, he walked toward the next car ahead and looked down. Desperate White Fang personnel clung to every ladder and handrail they could find, though many fell screaming to the ground as the train picked up speed. "Huh. What do you think they're carrying on this thing?"

"Androids!" Ruby shouted, her hands waving frantically. "And mechs! Big ones! There were tons of them! And guns, like, no kidding, _all_ of the guns."

Oobleck rubbed his chin in thought. "Such weaponry won't be much use down here, I'm afraid."

"Yeah," Indigo confirmed, shielding her eyes against the headwind. "All these tunnels were sealed with explosives when Mountain Glenn fell. My dad helped set some of the charges."

"There's gotta be something else going on." Jaune moved to the hatch and opened it to look inside. "All I see is a weird box with a flashing light on top."

"Box? What box?" Ruby managed to push her way to the hatch as they all crowded around it to see for themselves. "I didn't hear anything about boxes. What is that?"

Indigo had the answer first. "Hey, that's a bomb!" she exclaimed with terror.

"Indeed!" Oobleck confirmed. "A rather large one at that. Students! Check the other cars!"

Thankful for something to do, Pyrrha leaped ahead and strode along until she reached the next hatch. When she opened it, however, a guard popped out. "Oh!" she yelled, bonking him with her shield reflexively. He fell down the ladder, allowing her to look into the car. "This one has a bomb too!"

Blake and Weiss had moved to the next car up and were already peering into the hatch. "So does this one!" the heiress called nervously.

"Why would Torchwick have a train full of bombs?" Yang asked.

With a bassy shudder and a squeal of brakes, the last car of the train detached. Everyone still on it dashed to make the jump to the next car while they still could. As they watched, the car grew more distant until the brakes on one side engaged, flipping it off the rails and against the tunnel walls. A massive, fiery explosion occurred on impact. Seconds later, the Grimm began to flood out through the new opening and give chase. "Hooooooly fuck," a wide-eyed Indigo said. "We have to be under the city by now! If he's gonna blow holes in the tunnel…"

"Vale will be swamped with the creatures of Grimm! We have to stop this train immediately!" Oobleck waved at Team RWBY to push up. "We're going by rooftop!"

Team JNPR watched their friends depart for a moment. "What about us?" Nora shouted over the roar of the train.

"We're gonna try and do something about _that_ ," Opher said, thumbing back at the Grimm.

"Right!" Jaune and the rest of JNPR formed up with Opher and Indigo and readied their weapons. "How are we gonna do something about that, again?"

Opher scratched at his hair and looked around. "Hmm. Hey, Indy… think you could defuse those bombs?"

"Uh, no," she replied quickly. "I'm a sniper, not an EOD tech. besides, I don't wanna set one of those things off while I'm trying to fuck with it, you know?"

"Fair enough." The look on Pyrrha's face said she had something to say, so Opher motioned at her hurriedly. "Yeah, what? Come on, out with it."

"I may be able to stop the train cars from jumping the rails," she said. Right after she spoke, the car on which they stood decoupled. "Ah…"

Opher ushered his charges across to the next car up, bringing himself and Indigo across the gap last with another burst of air. "Show me!" he yelled.

Pyrrha focused her power through an outstretched arm and targeted the train's wheels, trying to slow their rotation. The several tons of weight put so much strain on her that she could only maintain the effort for a few seconds. "Agh!" she gasped, dropping to one knee. "Too heavy!"

When the brakes engaged on this car, however, it fell pathetically to one side instead of launching into the tunnel wall. The resultant explosion, while still enormous, didn't breach the rock. "You did it!" Nora cheered. The car beneath their feet suddenly lurched and decoupled. "Now you gotta do it again."

"Oh dear," the redhead sighed between heavy breaths. The process repeated: JNPR leaped to the next carriage followed by Opher and Indigo, who provided Pyrrha with cover while she tried to slow the car. This time, she got even less distance out of her Semblance; barely a second passed before her focus broke and she crumpled to her hands and knees.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune shuffled over and knelt to check on her. "You okay?"

"I'm-" The derailment interrupted her; this time the car rolled weakly before coming to rest at the base of the tunnel wall and exploding. Like the first bomb, it successfully punched a hole in the rock. A new torrent of Grimm soon rushed in, joining the previous monsters that had been in pursuit since the first explosion. "Oh no…"

"Forget it!" Opher yelled over his shoulder. He'd been occupied with protecting Indigo, Ren, and Nora, who were engaged in a shootout with a few White Fang some cars ahead. "You're no good to us unconscious. I'll take over."

"Oh… all right." The redhead hauled herself to her feet and stormed to the front with Jaune, where both used their shields to provide cover for their shooters until the decoupling process began anew.

While everyone else jumped to the next car, Opher lingered a bit and examined the tracks. Before escaping, he laid ice on the rails with flicks of his wrist. "Let's see if this works," he mumbled to himself. The train's wheels emitted a high-pitched screech as they lost friction; when the brakes engaged this time, the car stayed upright before exploding relatively harmlessly. "New plan! I'll stop the bombs, you stop-"

"We're running out of fucking tunnel!" Indigo shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"What?" Opher turned around and saw the yellow and black stripes that covered the dead end of the tunnel in the far, but quickly shrinking, distance. Tumbling smears of black and white at the bottom his vision made him look over the side of the carriage. Members of the White Fang jumped from the train cars, looking for safety but only finding their ends moments later at the claws and fangs of the Grimm. "Terrific."

"Uh… any ideas?" Nora asked while she crammed more grenades into Magnhild.

Opher looked between the onrushing wall and the black tide of Grimm a few times as he considered their options. "Do you trust me?" he asked them.

"Yeah," Indigo said immediately, darting over to stand at his side. "What do you have in mind?"

He filed away the fact that Team JNPR didn't answer his question while he unzipped his duffel bag. "I guess the bigger question is if I can trust _you_."

"Wait, what?" Jaune watched him take out an orange Dust crystal and drop it into his mouth. "What are you doing?!"

Opher waited until the pain of swallowing that Dust subsided a bit before choking out, "Not holding back anymore, that's what. Jump down and stay behind me. I'm gonna deal with the Grimm."

Pyrrha's jaw dropped with horror. "Opher, no! There are hundreds of them! If you… can't you just cloak us in ice again? That would protect us from the impact! We could make it into the city and call for help!"

"And how many civilians get to die before that help shows up? No, fuck that. I stop them _here._ " Opher walked to the edge of the car and stared at the Grimm tide, so thick with numbers that their black bodies obscured the ground. "Come with me or die. Those are your choices."

Being blunt worked; Jaune lead his team over after a muted, momentary conversation and put on a terrified smile. "You could have put it a little nicer, you know?"

Opher returned his expression with a wry smirk. "Nothing about this is nice, kid." His green eyes closed as his Aura flared into view. The gray light increased in brightness until everyone else had to shield their faces. "Everyone get ready," he commanded while looking down at the masses of Grimm, "'cause one way or another, we're about to become heroes."


	15. Chapter 15

Stress had robbed Pyrrha of her complete fighting strength against the White Fang, but the Grimm received the full brunt of her fury. Fueled by adrenaline and the overriding need to protect her friends, it became clear in mere seconds just how devastating she could be. The redhead didn't bother with her regular weaponry; instead she used her Semblance to rip up sections of the rails and impale scores of Grimm at once. Not even an electrically-charged Nora could keep up. Every swing of Magnhild shattered a Beowulf here or three Creeps there, but she was slowed down by having to perform the physical act of utilizing her might.

Pyrrha's wrath was directed with the mere waggle of a finger, or the sweeping of an arm. The brutality seemed nearly effortless until she began to tire and wobble on her feet, unable to keep shoving back the endless flood of Grimm. Jaune detected this almost immediately and yanked her away from the fight to safety behind a glowing Opher, who had yet to make his first move. "Hey, don't wear yourself out," he advised with a smile. His cool facade was shattered when Indigo fired her sniper rifle and caused him to jump.

"Take my assault rifle and start shooting!" she demanded while cycling the bolt. "You need a gun!"

"Okay!" Jaune grabbed the weapon as Indigo shrugged it off her shoulder and pointed it at the Grimm. He wasn't prepared for the recoil. "Gah!"

"Squeeze the trigger, don't pull!" Indigo advised him before her next shot.

"What's the difference?!" he exclaimed.

"You'll know it when you feel it," Ren said on his way past to take up a new firing position.

It seemed like an eternity, but the whole fight had been going on for only about a minute. Opher had been carefully measuring their ability to kill Grimm against the Grimm's ability to replace those losses. He glanced back at them during a brief lull. Exhaustion in some form or another marked all their faces, but Nora and Pyrrha appeared to be suffering most. Inexorably, the Grimm were beginning to overwhelm their defense. In any other circumstances, their fate would have been sealed, but where Pyrrha had unleashed hell with her ability, Opher unleashed something different, something far more tangible. His focus was such that he no longer needed to bring his will to life with motion. Opher's Aura projected itself outward in tiny, almost invisible tubes a hair's breadth wide. Through these conduits flowed the volcanic power of the crystal breaking down in his body. Creatures of Grimm began to drop and roll limply, killed by subtle injections of lava into their skulls.

"What's happening?" Nora asked between ragged breaths. "Why are they just dying?"

Pyrrha had already guessed at why and was still amazed at the sight. "He's not even moving."

"What?" Jaune asked, having ceased shooting for the moment. Despite being able to see the ashen Aura around Opher's body, he still couldn't make the connection. "It's… really?"

One by one, they lowered their weapons to witness Opher's slaughter. Even as the dead Grimm stacked up so badly their living numbers had to climb a growing pile of corpses, they kept coming. And as they kept coming, they kept dying, felled by an executioner masked as a statue sheathed in dancing gray flames.

Indigo still had the presence of mind to worry. "You guys need to get the hell out of here," she said to Jaune. "I don't know how long he can keep this shit up."

Pyrrha interjected before her leader could even formulate a reply. "I won't leave him."

When her words reached his ears, Opher allowed himself a tiny grin. "That's awfully heroic of you."

"I won't leave anyone down here to die!" she replied forcefully.

Opher crossed his arms loosely as his smile grew. "That's a great way to get _yourself_ killed, you know."

Echoed roaring from farther up the tunnel killed any further discussion. A new wave of Grimm was on its way. While a weary JNPR prepared to throw themselves back into the fight, Indigo kept her rifle lowered. Something had clicked in her head about the way he was acting; he seemed determined to hold the line by himself. "Practice what you preach!" she stated loudly. "We gotta get out of here and get help!"

"Get help?" The flickering flame around his body shone brighter until it became impossible to look at directly. The tongues of light twisted into misshapen arms before folding back into his body. "You tell me if I need _help_." Opher hurled himself at the Grimm with a gust of air so fierce it knocked JNPR and Indigo backwards. As he vanished into the ebony mass, a writhing, humanoid, gray _thing_ tore itself from his flesh just before a massive plume of lava swallowed it, him, and all the Grimm that surrounded both.

Still reeling from the impact of the first gust, Nora and Pyrrha stumbled to their feet, only to be hammered by the scalding hot backblast of Opher's attack. To preserve what little Aura they still had, both girls dropped to the floor where the air was coolest and crawled over to their partners. "Ren?" Nora wheezed, poking him in the side.

"I'm fine," he replied, though his voice clearly indicated otherwise. "Stay down."

Jaune had nothing to say when Pyrrha arrived; he'd lost consciousness. She could think of only one thing to do: use her body to try and shield him from the heat. Within a second of having the idea, however, she realized her armor might actually burn him instead. Lying next to him and waiting for the air to cool had to do.

It was the same story for Indigo, who had discarded her rifle because the weapon was now too hot to hold. On wobbly arms and legs, she hauled herself away from the inferno. "Did he just blow himself up?" she asked herself more than any of them.

For several moments, a heavy silence reigned. A faint rustle of clothing and the tiny clang of armor in motion broke this quiet. "Is everyone all right?" Pyrrha asked the darkness.

"I guess?" Indigo answered after a brief pause. The atmosphere had already cooled to sweltering from searing, but now she could barely see her hand in front of her face. "We need some extra light."

Nora provided this with her Scroll; she first pointed it at Ren, who was now sitting up, then at where she'd heard Pyrrha's voice. The redhead was on her feet again, but Jaune still lay sprawled across the railroad tracks. Even with the dim illumination, every bit of their exposed skins glittered with sweat. "Anybody got some water?" Nora asked. "My tongue feels like sandpaper."

"Hold on." Indigo awkwardly felt her way toward Opher's discarded duffel bag and reached inside. "Yeah, here's some that he-" She suddenly choked up and slumped over.

"Are you..." Pyrrha trailed off and looked back at where Opher had been standing moments earlier. In his place stood a dimly glowing pillar of volcanic rock that blocked the tunnel. Some of it was still hot enough to creep toward the floor in fat, orange folds. "Oh. He's… he's still in there!" she exclaimed.

Nora stopped her from dashing over to the glowing rock. "No! Pyrrha, no. Too hot. Lots of fire. No."

"But…" She looked to Indigo for some sort of reassurance, or at least agreement with her original statement, and found neither. "Indigo?"

"Forget it," she said to Pyrrha, utter defeat staining her voice. "What's done is done."

"I… I guess you're right." Unable to bear any sort of effort, Pyrrha sat roughly on the ground and stared at the end of the tunnel in the distance. A hole had been opened in the roof; the light of day glimmered off large spikes of ice that studded the wrecked train. "Team RWBY must have made it into the city."

"Seems so," Ren acknowledged quietly.

The redhead's eyes slid closed. "We could have made it into the city too."

Nora ignored her dejected teammate and grabbed Magnhild off the dirt. "Well, we can go up there _now_ , right? They might need us."

"Are we really in any condition to fight?" Ren asked around a sigh.

"Oh, come on." Nora leaned on her hammer and let out an awkward laugh. "I'm fine! You're fine. Pyrrha is fine. Jaune's takin' a nap, but that's five out of six, right?" She looked back at Indigo when the woman let out a strange noise. "Oh, right. My bad."

"That son of a bitch blew himself up!" Indigo shouted at the ceiling.

"Oh boy. We should probably go," Nora muttered to her teammates.

Just after she spoke, Jaune began to shift on the tracks. "Nnnrgh? What happened?" He sucked in a long breath as Pyrrha helped him sit up. His long look around didn't clear up matters much, beyond letting him know his team was all alive. "Where are the Grimm? Where's Opher?"

Pyrrha dropped to a knee to explain lowly. "He sacrificed himself to-"

Indigo snatched her sniper rifle off of the ground and stormed away, interrupting the redhead's sentence. "Damn him!" she yelled, her anguish echoing off of the rock and steel.

"Oh. Oh, man." Jaune noticed the assault rifle she'd left behind and moved to pick it up. "I'll just hang on to this for her."

Just as Indigo reached the smoking train wreckage, four shapes dropped down from the opening above. Distance and heat haze made them impossible to identify beyond general shapes; it was clear one of these new arrivals was enormous, but that was all any of Team JNPR knew. Whoever it was stopped to interact with Indigo, an exchange which lasted only a few seconds.

"Who's there?" Pyrrha called, one hand on her spear just in case.

"CFVY!" replied the voice of Coco Adel. "You guys all right?"

The redhead mopped her brow and sighed with relief. "We've got a casualty!"

"No we don't," Jaune insisted loudly. "I just bumped my head on the rail, I'm totally fine."

"I'm sure you are, skinny." Brandishing her minigun, Coco led Team CFVY along the tracks. The closer she got, the more she marveled at the damage, until she came to a stop while staring at the lava pillar and the warped metal around it. "Damn! We don't give you guys enough credit."

"It wasn't us," Pyrrha sighed. "It was our Huntsman."

She looked for the person in question only briefly before adding up what had happened. "Oh, hell." Coco nodded to the towering Yatsuhashi, then back at the opening. "Help these guys up, would you? We're gonna poke around."

"Of course." The giant warrior provided each member of Team JNPR with attention or help getting on their feet before ushering them off toward the end of the tunnel.

"Yo, Yatsu!" Coco yelled. "Don't forget this bag!"

"I'll get it." Nora returned on wobbly steps, grabbed Opher's duffel bag, and walked back just as unsteadily to catch up with her team.

Figuring any threat would have made itself known by now, Coco flipped a switch on her minigun that crammed it into its case form. "You feel anything, Fox?"

"Besides the heat?" he replied with a smile.

"Smartass," she said, dabbing the sweat off her forehead and smirking. "You know what I'm talkin' about."

Seriousness chased away Fox's grin. "Someone discharged a _massive_ amount of Dust here. The residue is really thick. Like it's sticking to the walls."

"Makes sense based on what we're seeing." She looked over in response to a clicking sound and found a droopy-eared Velvet taking pictures. "Looks like you're about to keel over."

"Oh, I'm fine." One final picture slaked her thirst for photos; she put away her camera and gazed at the dimly-glowing pillar. "Who was Team JNPR's Huntsman?"

"Uh, hold on." Coco slipped out her Scroll and started to check. "Looks like it was…"

Velvet looked over when Coco failed to complete the sentence. "Hmm?"

Coco looked at the image on her screen for a second more before tucking the device away. "Opher Riese."

"Oh." Her rabbit ears twitched as she brought up her recollection of the gangly man. "I guess it's true what they say about not judging books by their covers."

"Yeah. Anyway, I don't think the Grimm are gonna bust through this. Let's get back topside." Just as Coco turned, however, a solid, single vibration pierced the soles of her shoes. "Did you-"

Fox certainly had. He pointed a finger down at the rock. "It felt like it came from right below us."

"Grimm?" Velvet asked, creeping toward her team leader as her eyes darted around. Another solid tap pierced the floor. "Again!"

"Fox, watch our asses," Coco ordered, unfurling her minigun once more. A third tap rattled their feet, but this time it was accompanied by the appearance of a glowing circle in the floor. The longer they looked at it, the more it resembled lava.

"Extreme build-up of energy," Fox warned them. "Underground."

"Yeah, we see it." The golden barrels of Coco's weapon began to whirl; she laid her finger on the trigger in preparation to fire. "Get ready to go loud."

A human hand broke the bubbling surface of the pool, its fingers outstretched. Soon it was a tattooed forearm protruding from the lava, and moments later a shoulder and head appeared. "Well, that happened," a sweaty Opher mumbled as he tugged himself out of the liquid rock and onto the ground. "You always get in the way."

"What the hell," Coco said in disbelief, her gun lowering.

"Huh?" Opher cast an idle look back at them. "Where is Indigo? What happened to Team JNPR?"

"They're all up there," Coco explained with a finger pointed at the ceiling. "How are you even _alive_?"

"Blame my stupid Semblance." Opher couldn't help but take another look at his handiwork. "That was a big one, too." A scowl darkened his face; this didn't bode well for his hopes about the Maidens. "Damn it."

"Are you… okay?" Velvet asked, her head cocked a bit.

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine." He stretched his arms over his head and sighed. Truth be told, his entire body was sore; Opher likened the sensation to a muscle being stretched. It had been some time since he'd needed to discharge that much power. "I better let everyone know I'm still alive," he added, and moved off toward the destroyed train.

* * *

Ruby Rose tallied up the destruction with the help of her finger and some mouthed numbers before turning back to her team. "Okay, so, I know the bakery exploded and all…"

"Some of which hit me, by the way," Weiss interjected, rubbing the back of her head.

"And that's bad, but the point is nobody died," Ruby continued with a smile. "Because of the Grimm, anyway."

Her statement was true, but the explosion of the train as it slammed into the dead end had taken lives. They couldn't see the opening from here thanks to the buildings, but they all looked that way regardless. "There wasn't much we could have done about the train," Weiss assured her. "All things considered, I think things went about as well as possible."

"Are you sure?"

The three of them looked to Blake for clarification, only to see her gazing off into the distance. "What?" Weiss urged with a motion of her hand.

Blake lifted an arm and pointed out what she meant. "See that?"

"Huh? See..." Ruby trailed off when she finally noticed what had Blake's attention: Indigo, alone on a nearby bench with her head hanging. "Oh, that's where they-" she paused to look around. "Wait a second. Where's Team JNPR? Were they still on the _train_?!"

Up until now, Yang had been stewing quietly off to the side over her second failure against the weird little mute girl. Realizing JNPR might not have made it snapped her out of her funk. "Hey!" she called, jogging over. "Indigo!"

Only when the girls arrived did a sullen Indigo even begin to acknowledge their presence. "You all lived, huh? That's nice," she noted flatly.

"Where is JNPR?" Ruby asked frantically. "Were you still on the train behind us? What about all the Grimm we heard in the tunnel? Did-"

Indigo's demeanor had already given Yang a clue, and for once she had to be the gentle one. "Easy, Ruby." She sat down on the bench. "What happened?"

"He blew himself up," Indigo whispered. "We stayed behind to stop the Grimm and Opher blew himself up."

"How did he…" Weiss realized there was no way to frame her question without pouring salt into the wound and fell silent.

Indigo wiped her eyes. "The kids are okay. They're on a Bullhead to Beacon. They're probably there by now."

"Oh. That's, uh, good. That's good." Ruby squirmed under the weight of the awkward tension and turned away. Within a few seconds, she subtly shuffled over to Weiss. "What do I say? What _should_ I say?"

"Just let it be," the heiress advised lowly. She blinked with surprise upon looking back and finding herself subject to a stare from Indigo. "Yes?"

"Opher ate a Dust crystal."

Yang sat up fully and looked over. "I'm sorry, he did what?"

"You heard me. He ate a lava Dust crystal. Then he threw himself into the Grimm, and…" Indigo threw up her arms and laughed sadly. "Fucking _kaboom_. Like a volcano."

"You can eat Dust?" Ruby gave it a moment of consideration before she looked over at Weiss and repeated her question. "You can eat Dust?"

The heiress shook her head firmly. "Absolutely not! It's a mineral. You don't try to eat rocks, do you?"

Sensing a chance to lighten the mood, Yang began, "Well, there was that one time…" It fell flat, so she shut up and coughed awkwardly.

Thinking on Opher's last moment made Indigo wilt. It was either be angry or cry; she chose the former. "Then what the hell?!" she yelled. "What was he doing? Why did he-" Unable to think on it anymore, she slumped over and hid her eyes. "That fucking idiot."

"'That fucking idiot', huh? Seems about right."

They turned to ascertain the source of the voice. Opher strode down the street toward them with a careful grin, waving with one hand and slicking back his hair with the other. Indigo jumped off the bench but went no further, completely at a loss. It took him walking right up to her before she managed to react. "You're…" She examined him slowly from head to toe. "Not… what?"

Opher gave her a little pat on the head, a gesture to which she didn't really react. "I would have called, but my Scroll was in my bag and have no idea where it ended up."

"But you…" Indigo mumbled, the ability for coherent thought long gone.

"Great! He's alive! We're all good here, then, right?" Ruby asked gingerly despite sensing the uncertainty of her teammates. "Riiiiight?" Their evasive, muttered responses, plus Blake's stony silence, made her sigh. "Are we done yet… I'm so sleepy…"

Yang gave up her place on the bench so Opher could sit. Despite everything, his first question centered on the curious Huntsman he'd met at the beginning of this adventure. "Hey, Yang, who was the Huntsman with you? I heard you call him Professor."

"Professor Oobleck." She folded her arms loosely. "What about it?"

Opher gave Indigo a little glance before asking his next question. "What does he teach?"

"He's our history professor," Ruby said. "I think he does archaeology stuff, too."

"Oh." And that explained the reason for his interest in Opher's tattoo. "Well, I'm properly screwed now," he muttered lowly.

It was about at this point that Indigo's brain finally caught up with her heart. She plopped down roughly on the bench and began to return to her usual demeanor. "I don't think you are. You're apparently lava-proof."

"About that," Weiss interjected politely. "If what she said is true, then how-"

"That gray thing. His Semblance," Indigo said. "Obviously." Opher didn't chime in to say she was correct, so she jabbed him in the ribs. " _Obviously_."

"You're right," he finally sighed. "Sort of."

Detecting that something larger was clearly going on, an exhausted Ruby tried to extract herself and her team before they got rolled up into another adventure. "Um. We should go." She gave her sister a tug on the hand and pointed back toward the plaza. "They might need help cleaning up. Or something."

"Hold on," Yang denied, gently yanking her wrist free. "Did you really eat a Dust crystal?"

"Huh?" Opher looked Yang right in the eye for a moment in silence. "Yeah. Indy told you about that, did she?"

Indigo blinked up at him. "Was I… not supposed to?"

So much about this scene was familiar, from the confused friend to the uncertain bystanders. It was exactly as Opher had reminded himself earlier. Every new century seemed to bring the same thing. This latest iteration came with a few strings attached, however, thanks to Cinder and Ozpin. And worse still, technology's leaps and bounds meant his face, if it got out now, would be virtually impossible for Remnant to forget again. Opher had backed himself into a strangely unfamiliar corner. The facade was already crumbling around him, so he chose to take a hammer to it as it fell. He unbuttoned one of the pockets on the legs of his cargo pants, slipped out an ice Dust crystal, and swallowed it without hesitation. "I don't think it matters anymore," he determined at length. A long, foggy breath left his lips.

Team RWBY's reaction to his Dust consumption ran the gamut from stunned silence on Blake's part to recoiling in horror by Weiss. Yang and Ruby just shook their heads and stared in disbelief.

"I'll give you guys a minute," he quipped after a while. "Take your time."

"What on Remnant _are_ you?" Weiss asked.

"Tired." Opher slumped forward and stood up all in one motion and stretched a bit. The matter he viewed as most important was addressed first; giving his boss a chance to get out before things spiraled too far out of control. It was the least he could do. "You've got a decision to make," he said to Indigo. "Ditch me and move on with your life, or prepare to go down a very weird road." Something in the distance caught his eye. "No rush." A smile appeared. "In the meantime, I kind of need to find whoever's got my duffel bag."

Indigo mumbled something under her breath before speaking up. "Whatever, man," she said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I need to go report to my unit anyway."

"All right." Opher put his hands into his pockets and walked over to Ruby. "I guess I'm with you guys for now."

"Ohhhhh…" Ruby wanted to tack on a "no", but settled instead for a drawn-out "...kaaaaay. Sure. Bye, Indigo! Sorry about almost getting you killed."

"Not the first time I've come close to biting it," she said with a strange little smile. "Later, new… I mean, Opher."

"Yeah, yeah." He tossed up one more wave and fell in with Team RWBY. "First it was a giant robot, now it's Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. You've been busy," he mumbled to Ruby after they'd walked for a few moments.

"Hey, it's what Hunters do." Her silver eyes rolled about. "I mean, we're not officially Huntresses yet, but you know what I'm saying."

"Uh huh. You think this has anything to do with the CCT tower incident?"

Ruby scratched her head and shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe?"

"Should we really involve him in this?" Blake asked dourly. She glared at the blood spatter on Opher's cargo pants.

"Um, did you miss the past few hours? I'd say he's pretty involved," Yang pointed out.

Weiss' mind was elsewhere throughout this conversation. "You ate… how?!" she blurted out in the process of trying to think it through.

Opher cracked a grin at her. "Don't hurt yourself, now." As they rounded the corner, a Bullhead parked in the plaza came into view. "Oh, good. I needed to head back to Beacon anyway."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

Opher's gaze became somewhat distant. "I suspect Ozpin is gonna want to have a word with me after he talks to Team JNPR."

* * *

At that moment, however, Team JNPR was occupied with other matters. Having suffered the worst of all of them from an exhaustion standpoint, Ren needed an immediate visit to the infirmary. Jaune, with his bump to the head, followed suit. Mainly because Pyrrha insisted he go, and ensured he did with the application of actual, if gentle force. "Um, you can let go of me now," he said. "I'm lying on a bed."

"I'm… just making sure you don't fall off," she replied with a smile. The redhead did, however, remove her hand from his chest. "Nora, how is Ren?"

"Ah, he's fine," she whispered, a strange sound to be coming from her lips. "Just taking a nap."

"I think he has the right idea." Pyrrha slumped back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. Since she didn't feel like bringing up the elephant in the room, she opted for small talk instead. "I wonder how everyone is doing back in Vale?"

"Let's find out." Jaune produced his Scroll and tapped Ruby's smiling face.

"Hey, Jaune!" her tired, but chipper voice said. "How's it going?"

"Could be better. We're in the infirmary at Beacon. Don't freak out. We're all okay. Just wondering how the city did."

"A few Grimm made it through. We wrecked all of 'em. A bakery exploded, though, so that's… yeah." Loud background noise forced Ruby to shout her next words. "We'll be back at school in a few minutes! Gotta go! Oh, wait, before I hang up, Opher's fine! He'll explain when he gets there!"

"Got it. See you." He ended the call and settled back, as did Pyrrha and Nora, until Ruby's words actually registered. "He's alive?!" Jaune blurted out, jerking Ren awake in the process.

"I don't understand," a wide-eyed Pyrrha added. "How is that possible?"

Nora looked over with a grin. "That guy's a lot tougher than he looks, huh?"

The redhead could only frown. "Toughness? This goes beyond that. Did anyone else notice the-I'm not sure how to describe it. The-"

"The gray guy that came out of Opher's back?" Nora offered.

"Ah, well, yes." Pyrrha placed her hands in her lap and tried to analyze the memory. "His Aura?"

"Or his Semblance, perhaps," Ren said as he laid down again. "At least we have the chance to ask him which."

Jaune hadn't been conscious to witness what they were talking about. "What gray guy?" he asked, waving for attention. "I missed something."

Pyrrha smiled oddly and shrugged. "We'll worry about it later." In the silence that followed, another problem became apparent. "Does anyone else wonder why Roman Torchwick and the White Fang would want to overrun Vale with Grimm?"

"The White Fang hate humans, right?" Nora asked.

She nodded at this. "As far as I know, but a lot of Faunus live in Vale, too."

"Either way, it doesn't explain Torchwick being involved," Jaune added, rubbing his chin in thought. "Isn't he just a thief? I don't get why he'd be in on this unless it was to rob people blind during the chaos."

Nora snorted at that idea. "He's _already_ been robbing everybody blind. Have you seen the news?"

Jaune tilted his head at her. "You watch the news?"

"Ren does."

"Maybe Ruby knows more than she's letting on. We should talk to them when they get back." Pyrrha reminded herself that Opher would be coming with them. She stood on unsteady legs and started for the door. "You know what? I'll do it. No point in dragging all of you along when you need to rest."

Her assertion made Nora cock a brow. "And you don't?"

"I'm fine," she replied, laughing to cover up the intensity of the aching in her bones. "I promise. I'll be back soon." Once out of their sight, she let herself wilt on her feet. "My whole _body_ hurts."

"One of the many prices of being a Hunter, I'm afraid."

Pyrrha's head jerked up at Ozpin's voice. "Professor! I…"

"Good morning, Miss Nikos," he said, giving her a strange little half-smile. He nodded to the open infirmary door. "I assume the rest of your team is in there?"

She nodded once and also looked that way. "Yes, sir. I was just letting them get some rest while I-" Hesitation froze the words in her throat. "I mean…"

Ozpin regarded her with a curious look after he'd taken a drink of coffee. "Ah, you had other plans?"

There was no point in being evasive, so Pyrrha straightened up and came right out with it. "I wanted to go say hello to Team RWBY and Opher when they landed."

"Hmm. Lead the way, then," Ozpin said, pointing off with his mug. "I must admit I am quite interested to hear how your team ended up in a train tunnel _under_ the city of Vale."

Pyrrha proceeded on wooden legs; her gait must have been visibly awkward, but Ozpin made no note of it out loud. "Ruby went missing. Opher made the decision to help look for her when Yang called Jaune about it last night."

"I see." Ozpin drank a little more coffee and adjusted his glasses. "I can't fault him for wanting to help. However…"

The inflection with which he trailed off made Pyrrha wince. It seemed like the headmaster was displeased with some part of the affair, but she didn't quite know how to ask which one, or even if she'd misunderstood his tone. "If you're upset about what happened in the tunnel, I-"

He didn't let her finish. "Miss Adel tells me the tunnel was sealed by a pillar of, and I quote, 'lava, like a volcano erupted'."

"Yes, sir. We were being overwhelmed by the Grimm when Opher-" She paused to grope for the right word and couldn't find it. "Well, when he did that."

"I'm not sure you realize how many lives you saved," Ozpin noted gravely. "Especially among our advance guard. It would have taken us some minutes to mobilize all available forces."

Pyrrha's face grew pallid as she considered what might have been: a city on fire, choked with Grimm and in its death throes. Her jaw set. "Opher did most of the work, Professor Ozpin. He should get the credit."

"Your sense of honor is refreshing." By now they'd made it outside and were walking down the wide pathway toward the airship pads. "I believe we both know he won't take it."

"He does seem… rather secretive," Pyrrha had to admit with a frown. "Considering everything I've gotten him wrapped up in, maybe it's for good reason."

Ozpin shook his head at that. "You did what you thought was right."

"I guess." The redhead had time for no more as the roar of an incoming Bullhead stole her attention. They watched it land and shut down its engines; ten seconds later, Ruby Rose hopped out onto the pad, her older sister close behind. The rest of her team emerged a few seconds later with a dog nipping at Weiss' heels.

Opher and Oobleck brought up the rear of their procession. The former saw Ozpin almost immediately and let loose a sigh. "This is going to be _so_ much fun."

Team RWBY made a beeline for Pyrrha; Ozpin gave them their space and approached the two Huntsmen for a more serious chat. "Doctor. Mister Riese. Exceptional work out there."

"Yeah," Opher said before the fast-talking Oobleck could speak, "JNPR's pretty good at this hunting business. Indigo did great, too."

Ozpin peered at the man from over the rims of his glasses. "There's no need to deflect, Mister Riese. Pyrrha explained what happened."

Opher rolled his eyes at this. "Of course. It's _always_ her."

"I would not have believed it had Professor Port's students not told me," Oobleck stated at top speed. "I find it difficult to believe Atlas' military would let a talent such as you slip through their fingers." He looked down at the symbols on Opher's left arm. "But I am glad they did. It's quite exciting to have another archaeologist in Vale."

"Excuse me?" Ozpin said. He looked past the doctor and at Opher, who refused to make eye contact. "You didn't mention anything about that particular hobby." With every second that passed, Opher's silence got icier.

Oobleck simply cut through their tension and kept rambling. "Words aren't necessary. How devoted to the science must one be to have such an interesting facet of it etched into their skin? Especially knowing how difficult it is to get tattoos through Aura. Such dedication is to be admired."

By now, Ozpin realized the gold mine he was sitting on. "Enlighten me, Doctor. I'm sure Mister Riese won't mind." He expected a vicious reaction from Opher but got nothing, not even a glance, in response.

"Why, of course! Atlesian dig sites have yielded tablet fragments bearing an incomplete, unknown language that appears to pre-date even Mantle's establishment. Symbols such as these, you see." Upon closer inspection, however, Oobleck realized that some of the ink on Opher's arm was utterly unrecognizable, even to him. "Odd. I don't recall ever seeing this particular set of-"

"Hmm. Interesting," Ozpin interjected firmly. "Doctor, would you go see to Team RWBY? I need to speak to Mister Riese about something."

Oobleck regarded the headmaster with a strange look, but complied. "Very well."

Once he'd dashed out of earshot, Ozpin turned back to Opher with a dire gaze. "Is this a language you've studied for a while?"

Opher locked eyes with him. "It's the first language I ever learned how to speak."

The pieces began to drop into place. "You behave like a Maiden because your power is just as old," the headmaster said, almost to himself. "Your Aura was never compressed at all. It's just… ancient." But that explanation didn't fit exactly, either, not with the way Opher's essence visually presented itself. "No. Something still isn't right."

"It's not either-or, it's both," Opher corrected him. "I'm as old as the hills _because_ my Aura got compressed. It screwed up my Semblance."

"And I take it you're still unwilling to divulge anything about that particular incident?" Ozpin asked.

That he still presented the question caused Opher to smirk. "It made me immortal. What do you think?"

"Mm. Given the circumstances, I'll leave that stone unturned for now." Ozpin sneaked glances in all directions to ensure nobody was spying on them. "Might I trouble you to stay on campus? I have a Council meeting to attend to, but I'd like to continue this conversation."

"Fine. I don't have much choice. Somebody around here has my stuff." As the headmaster nodded and walked away, however, something else clicked. "Hey, now that we've cleared the air, I've got a question."

"Yes?" Ozpin replied, turning back to look at him.

"You were never curious about my name?"

He shrugged it off with a smile. "It's a bit archaic, but I assumed it referred to your hair. When you work with a man like Doctor Oobleck, you can't help but pick up words here and there."

"Yeah, I guess so." Opher eyed the headmaster for a moment before asking, "So what color is _your_ name? I've never heard it before."

His question drew a full-throated, but extremely brief, laugh from Ozpin as he turned away again. That action was also his answer; he raised his mug in goodbye and moved off toward the tower, leaving a perplexed Opher in his wake. "That doesn't tell me shit," he grumbled as he also turned away. A few steps later, it hit him. "Wait a second." Why had Ozpin taken this news so well? Almost in stride, even. He stared at Ozpin's retreating form.

In that instant, it occurred to Opher that he might not be the only man in Vale who had slipped the bonds of time.


	16. Chapter 16

Elsewhere on Beacon's campus, Cinder Fall and her associates disembarked from one of the many Bullheads transporting deployed students from Vale. Emerald, keenly aware of her mistress' dour mood, made careful small talk, and only to Mercury. "That went pretty well," she remarked, being sure to frame her words so no suspicion would be raised among anyone listening in.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Pretty well." Mercury eyed Cinder to see just how mad the woman really was. He saw enough tension in her shoulders to decide to keep his mouth shut.

Emerald had picked up on this herself. "Yep." That was the last word any of them spoke until they reached the dorm room.

Cinder shut the door but did not turn away from it. "Show me the footage again," she commanded over her shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am." In an instant, Emerald had her Scroll out and flipped open. Her fingers danced on the screen as she searched the video for the timestamp in question. "Here you go."

Eyes glittering, she took the device and tapped the play button. The viewpoint was from high above, its lower third dominated by graphics; this was a feed from a VTOL aircraft used by one of Vale's many news stations. At center screen lay the jagged, smoking hole made by the underground train derailment. From that maw came Grimm of all sorts and sizes, though their numbers were thin. Team RWBY, Oobleck, and Zwei, at this distance little more than tiny dots and smears of motion, also escaped the opening as Cinder watched. They were followed by a further trickle of Grimm. That was the problem: a trickle, not a flood. A firm tap on the pause button made Mercury and Emerald flinch behind her. "There were barely enough monsters to give _child_ a nightmare," she hissed, facing her associates with a bitter glare, "much less an entire city. I want to know _why._ "

Emerald had made the mistake of watching further ahead in the tape on their way back to Beacon. She made the additional error of not keeping her mouth shut entirely. "Ah, well, I mean…" Cinder's wicked eyes punched through her soul. Despite knowing it was too late, she scrambled for an end to her thought. "It's probably Torchwick's fault. We knew he was gonna screw this up somehow, right?"

"You hesitated," Cinder noted evenly; she proceeded to apply a bit of pressure to get Emerald to spill what she _really_ meant to say. "Did you not assure me that each of the explosive devices were in working order? Did you _lie_?"

The trembling thief's blood turned to ice. "I… don't think that's what happened, ma'am," she said, pointing at her Scroll. "Watch the opening at about an hour and nine minutes. Look who comes out."

Cinder narrowed her eyes at Emerald before gazing back down at the screen. She skipped ahead to a few seconds before the timestamp in question and waited. While another person did emerge from the hole, it took a few more seconds before the camera zoomed in on them. The instant she saw his tattoo sleeve, Cinder knew who she was looking at. "Him." The fire in her eyes became literal for a brief moment. " _Him_." She threw Emerald's Scroll back at her and produced her own device. The black queen flickered on its screen when she flicked it open.

"Hold on. How did Riese know about the train?" Mercury wondered out loud. "I sure as hell didn't tell him."

"Me neither," Emerald hastily agreed. "I swear."

Cinder ignored them and shuffled quickly through screen after screen of what appeared to be meaningless gibberish. One such dataset got her attention. "If he told them about me, they're doing an exceptional job of hiding it." She thumbed ahead to another table of scrambled text. "And if he didn't…" Cinder gnashed her teeth.

Mercury offered up the best solution he could think of at the moment. "Hell, let's go ask him."

"Excuse me?" Cinder asked, her fiery gaze snapping to him. "And tie ourselves to Torchwick and the White Fang? Are you _insane_?"

Despite her venomous expression, Mercury stood firm and explained himself, albeit with an edgy smirk. "I don't think he said a word to Ozpin. General Ironwood didn't break down our doors this morning, did he? Riese has gotta have his own thing goin' on."

"Wait, you think he's playing both sides?" Emerald scratched her head in thought. " _Why_?"

She'd brought up an excellent question. Opher's potential motivations defied Cinder. A plan was in order, but she needed advice from on high first. "Think of something to do for the next hour," Cinder ordered, pointing at the door. "I don't care what, but do not leave this campus."

Mercury shrugged and started off with a smile. "All right. I'm gonna go get something to eat. You coming, Emmy?"

"Uh… yeah," Emerald confirmed, trying to read the expression on her mistress' face and failing. "Yeah. Right behind you."

Once she had the room to herself, Cinder brought up a new screen on her Scroll. It featured a number pad and asked for a code. She carefully entered thirty-two digits. Upon hitting the final number, the pad vanished. A seemingly-standard text messaging app took its place. It took Cinder longer to decide how to frame her first message than it did to enter the access code.

 _If I told you I met a male Maiden, what_ _would you say?_ was the opening she chose. Cinder settled in a desk chair to await a response.

When her answer arrived, Cinder knew instantly who the message had reached. _I'd wonder if She knew you consumed hard drugs. This connection is not for humor._

 _A good thing I'm not joking, then,_ Cinder fired back. She quickly attached a picture of Opher and sent her message.

The reply came mere moments later. _This face means nothing. Have you a name?_

Cinder promptly gave it. _Opher Riese. He hails, so far as I know, from Atlas._

And then, nothing. Nothing for a minute, then two, then five. Cinder set aside her Scroll, growing more uncertain with each second that ticked by. No matter how anxious she became, however, she stayed her hand and waited patiently.

A single chime rang out; her reply had come. _She asks if this man has any tattoos._

Cinder tapped out her answer. _Yes. A sleeve of symbols on his left arm that I don't recognize._

Almost instantly, she got a single instruction. _Expect a call in ten minutes._

After completely shutting down her Scroll and putting it away, Cinder allowed herself a subtle sigh as relief washed over her. Of course Salem knew what was going on. Salem knew everything. Only the incessant, gnawing desire of the shattered Maiden's power in her veins gave her mind any trouble now. That peace didn't last long, however. "If She knew him, why didn't She warn me?"

Another question without an answer. Cinder had been encountering too many of those lately. She chose to pass this time in silent brooding, eyes affixed to the open window. Through it ebbed and flowed the sounds of Beacon: faint voices distorted by the wind, Bullheads coming and going, the intermittent singing bird. All faded against the constant ticking of the wall clock above Cinder's head.

When her Scroll rang, she took it up more by reflex than conscious thought. "What does he know?" a monotone male voice asked.

"Our faces, our names, but not our plan," she replied calmly. "He saw me at the CCT tower. I fought him. Normal weapons did nothing."

"The color of his Aura?"

Cinder tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Gray. Like ashes."

"Had he encountered the Maiden's might before?"

Her eyes narrowed faintly. "Yes. It seems he may know things we don't."

"She wants a picture of his tattoos. Do whatever it takes." With that, the line went dead.

All Cinder could do was stare at her Scroll with something approaching dissatisfaction. Why Salem would issue such an order was beyond her; regardless, it would get carried out. Somehow. She thought on how to accomplish this new task, though her mind soon wandered elsewhere. Four Maidens for four seasons was an easy enough analogy to make, but if his power bore any relation to theirs, what did _he_ represent? Another question with no answer, she found, much to her chagrin. She needed information. Cinder began to think more tactically. A spy was in order; someone with the ability to tail him at minimal risk to themselves. It also had to be a face that Opher would not know in case the worst happened. Now that she had time before the beginning of the Vytal Festival, her options had opened up.

One asset seemed like the perfect fit; better still, with Roman Torchwick out of the game for now, this one was idle. Cinder picked up her Scroll again and opened the normal text app. The smug face of Neopolitan got a tap before Cinder started typing.

* * *

There were no two ways about it; Opher found himself completely stunned by the prospect of another person like him. Seated on a bench, he'd been struggling to process the idea ever since Ozpin left. The only way to handle it had been to break it down into single questions he could tackle on their own. Had he met the headmaster before? A name like that would have stuck out like a sore thumb. If, that was, he'd kept the same name all along like Opher himself did.

Somehow, he doubted it. Ozpin was neck-deep in unseen machinations that, Opher suspected, were affecting more than just the Academy around him. He would need a new identity every so often. Retreating into the aether, like he could, probably wasn't an option for Ozpin.

He tossed that line of thought aside and started another, more disturbing one: if Ozpin actually was immortal, how did he achieve that immortality? Surely it couldn't have been via the same means as Opher, but there was no way he could be a hundred percent certain without seeing the man's Aura or Semblance in action. This led to another question.

Could Ozpin kill him?

It was still his intention to test the Maiden's might, but a backup plan wouldn't be a bad idea. Perhaps Ozpin would suffice. There was a problem, however: Opher had great difficulty imagining the headmaster would _start_ a fight, but he'd surely finish one. In that case, what could Opher do to attract his wrath?

He was already doing it, he realized. As long as he withheld information about Cinder, Ozpin had all the reason in the world to lash out at him if and when her plan went forward. That, however, depended on what she was actually planning. Opher rubbed his brow with a sigh and slumped against the bench.

"You look like something's bothering you."

Opher's eyes snapped open and beheld Pyrrha, standing a few feet in front of him. His duffel bag was in her left hand; she decided to set it on the ground at his feet and take a seat beside him.

"How did you end up with my bag?" was the first question out of his mouth.

"I didn't. Nora brought it with her when we left the tunnel." Pyrrha clasped her hands in her lap and looked straight ahead. "We're all fine, by the way."

"I figured you all made it okay." Opher eyed the redhead and found exhaustion marking every facet of her posture. Even her bright green eyes were glassy with it. "They sent you to run errands, huh? They can't be in any worse shape than you are."

Pyrrha's face tightened subtly. "I'm perfectly all right."

"Uh huh," he replied, draping one arm over the back of the bench. "You act just like Carmine did."

"Who?" Pyrrha asked, her head slightly cocked. Then it hit her. "Ah, you said I reminded you of a friend of yours. So that was her name."

Tired of dealing with the implications of another undying soul, Opher seized on the subject change with both hands. "Yeah. A hard-headed girl with a hero complex." He considered for a moment how Pyrrha had fought in the tunnel and added, "You're a better warrior."

Unsure of how to take the compliment, Pyrrha opted for something neutral. "I hear that a lot."

Her diplomacy made Opher snort. "Don't feel like you need to respect the dead here. Carmine would have said the same thing I just did. What's your Semblance? I saw you throwing around all that metal."

The redhead glanced around before replying lowly. "Polarity. Magnetism."

"Huh." Taking advantage of the lull in their chat, he reached into his bag to look for his Scroll. "You all did pretty well. Tell Jaune that Indigo thinks he's got potential."

Pyrrha put on a cheerful smile. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." That was as far as she went with the small talk, however. "I guess we know what _your_ Semblance is now, don't we?"

Opher, having found the device, stared into space for a moment. "Have you ever been physically stopped from doing something you _really_ wanted to do?"

"I…" Caught off-guard by the question, Pyrrha looked away to try and collect an answer. She failed. "...don't understand what you mean?" was the best she could come up with.

Opher zipped up his bag and stood. "That's what you saw."

"Oh. I see," she replied, even though she really didn't. "Before you go, Blake wanted me to-"

"It's about what I did to those White Fang, isn't it?" he said over his shoulder.

The redhead blinked, but nodded. "Yes. She had a message for you."

Opher, now in a dour mood, looked away with a scowl. "Then she can deliver it to me herself. I'll be in the amphitheater."

He stalked toward that building in silence, fully expecting Pyrrha to chase him down. When she didn't, however, he deflated somewhat with a sigh. Groups of students occupied either side of the path, chatting among themselves; he ignored these conversations entirely until the late-summer breeze delivered an interesting tidbit. "Look. It's him," some boy said.

The words made him stop walking. He looked around and found a whole cluster of students looking his way. They stared at each other. "What?" Opher finally demanded.

"We saw you on TV!" a gray-haired girl replied. "Hey, he was with JNPR, right?" she asked her friends. Then she looked down the path and saw Pyrrha. "Hey, Pyrrha!"

Opher blinked as the group departed and headed her way. After he'd processed the whole exchange, his mood only darkened. "Damn it, it's already happening," he grumbled, hefting his bag onto his shoulder and continuing on his way.

Ninety minutes of being grilled by the King's Council left Ozpin a bit irritable, but in the final analysis not much had changed. James Ironwood was now officially in charge of Vytal Festival security, as if he hadn't already had an enormous hand in it in the first place. As he decompressed, he poured himself another cup of coffee. "That could have gone better," he admitted to Glynda, who stood at one of the windows. "And it certainly could have gone worse."

She walked toward his desk with a wry smile. "You say that every time the Council comes calling."

"I suppose I do." The headmaster reached for his Scroll to type a message for the automated address system. "Now it's time we focused on the other issue at hand."

Glynda instantly lost her smirk. "I can't believe Riese is…" Unable to finish, she looked away. "Is that why his Aura acts the way it does?"

"It explains quite a few of those peculiarities, yes. Not all of them." Ozpin held his mug with both hands and took on a thoughtful air. "I wonder how far back we can trace him?"

"James can probably tell us how long he's been in Atlas. Beyond that, I don't know," she said, her brow vaguely furrowed. "I've been doing some research. If Doctor Oobleck is right about his tattoos, that's _eight thousand_ years at least. What happened to him?"

Ozpin sipped at his coffee for a moment before answering. "One question at a time. At any rate, I'm content to let him keep that secret. If our enemies learned it, we would be in serious trouble."

"I suppose that would be for the best, then. For now." A ding from the elevator made Glynda look over. Opher stepped out as the doors opened. "That was quick."

"Doesn't take me long to get anywhere," he said. Opher had changed clothes in the interim; he now wore a white shirt with khaki cargo pants.

Something about him seemed twitchier than usual, but neither of them called it out. "Glynda's been doing a bit of research," the headmaster began, "and seems to think you've been around for quite some time."

"Oh, yeah?" Opher eyed her briefly. "What figure did she give you?"

"Eight thousand years."

"I guess that's about right," he acknowledged without hesitation. "Maybe a little on the short side, though."

"Where on Remnant have you been hiding all this time?" Glynda asked.

Opher shrugged once. "It's a big planet. There are places not even the _Grimm_ will go."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed at that statement. "Glynda, would you give us a few moments?" They stared at each other in silence until the elevator doors closed behind her. "What would you know about such places?"

"Kill enough of them and even _they_ get the point eventually. When you've got nothing but time on your hands, it's actually pretty easy," Opher remarked while crossing his legs. "It gets even easier when they stop recognizing you as a human being because you've been alive too long."

"Yes, it does." Ozpin clasped his hands on the desk. "I suppose you've met a few Maidens in your time?"

He straightened up a bit. "Met them? Hell, I've got some of their names on my arm."

"I beg your pardon?" The headmaster leaned forward as Opher rolled up his sleeve. "Those are names?"

"Yeah." His eyes darted over the symbols. "Two hundred and thirty-one of them so far." He turned his arm over several times and frowned. "I guess the next one is gonna have to go on my other arm."

While Opher looked at his tattoos, Ozpin did some quick mental math. "You average a new name every thirty-five years, give or take."

"Not exactly. Twelve of these belong to the people I knew when I was still normal."

No amount of eying those symbols could give Ozpin a clue as to which ones he meant. "Family, I assume?"

"Yeah. And friends in my old village." He looked up with hollow eyes. "So, how old are _you_?"

"It's not polite to ask someone's age," was Ozpin's even, if somewhat snarky response.

Opher would have none of it. His eyes became slits. "Don't bullshit me, old man."

The headmaster smirked to himself before his face became incredibly serious. "There is a war happening under our noses, Mister Riese. A war for the very fate of this planet."

If Opher was impressed by this, he certainly didn't show it. "And you're on one side. So who's on the other?"

"Have you ever heard of a woman… a being, named Salem?"

Arms crossed, he looked off in thought. "Can't say I have. Then again, it's been about a century since everyone decided to name their children after colors. Salem probably isn't as popular a name as it used to be."

Now it was Ozpin sporting the narrow-eyed glare. "You saw the Great War. Individuality itself came under attack. Our children bear the legacy of those peoples' defiance."

Opher burst out laughing. "Yeah! Everyone's different." And then his chortling stopped cold. "And everyone is exactly the same. Every baby that turns into a soldier or a Hunter is just fresh grist for a mill that never, _ever_ stops grinding."

"Do not insult their sacrifices," Ozpin shot back, his tone flat but slightly chilly. "Humanity's continued survival is thanks to their heroism."

Done with poking the headmaster for the moment, Opher decided he had an idea of just how old Ozpin was. "You've gotta be younger than me. You haven't given up yet." There wasn't an immediate reply, so he kept talking. "Let me guess: Salem doesn't remember how to die either. So, what, you've been butting heads for a few centuries?" Ozpin still had nothing to say, so Opher leaned forward with a caustic smile. "If the years have taught me anything, it's that nobody ever wins. Nobody ever will. It just comes down to how badly each of us lose."

Ozpin at last found his voice again. "And how badly have _you_ lost?"

Once more, Opher rolled up his sleeve to show all his tattoos. "I dunno. You tell me."

The headmaster decided to do some verbal prodding of his own. "Hm. There are few things in life sadder than someone who has given up hope."

A smiling Opher met his determination head on. "Almost as sad as someone that won't let go of it."

"So you've become content to let the world just pass you by?" Ozpin asked, vague disappointment in his words.

Opher barged right through that question to pose his own. "Don't you ever get tired? I don't mean sleepy, either. You _know_ what I'm talking about."

The corners of Ozpin's mouth drooped subtly. "I would be lying if I said no, but as you might imagine, I have many things to occupy my time."

"Congratulations. You get off on being humanity's secret shepherd. I guess Salem gets off on trying to destroy it, then?" Opher shifted in his seat and looked at the turning gears. "I get off on not giving a damn."

"You expect me to believe that?" the headmaster asked with a smile. "Considering what you did in Vale?"

Opher's thoughts drifted back to Indigo. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I saved your city just to save your city."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ozpin assured him with a stoic look.

Whether the headmaster was being sarcastic or serious, Opher couldn't tell. He decided it wasn't really important either way. "Heh. So whatever happened the other night in the tower has something to do with this Salem woman, huh?"

Ozpin cast a thoughtful look out one of the nearby windows. "It may. Our investigation is ongoing."

"I know you've gotta want my help. Especially knowing what you know now."

The headmaster looked back to Opher. "Again, I would be lying if I said no. Who wouldn't want the assistance of someone like you?"

And yet, he didn't outright ask; Opher found this curious but said nothing of it. "Fair enough." He couldn't add anything more; Blake's distrustful face had popped up in his mind's eye. Out of all of them, he reckoned she had what was closest to the right idea. "We'll see how much you want my help after you're done finding out what I've been up to."

Ozpin cocked a brow. "Oh? Is there something you wish to tell me?"

"Nah." Opher picked up his bag and looked at the elevator. "I think it'll be better if you find out yourself."

"I'm not done, Mister Riese."

A surprised Opher looked back at him; unable to read the headmaster's face, he decided, albeit reluctantly, to humor him. "What else is there?"

"I would like to hear how Team JNPR fared in the field," he explained calmly. "We expect reports from everyone who escorts a team into battle. You are no exception."

Opher weighed this for a moment and decided it was a fair request, so he sat down again. "All right. That Jaune kid… he seems a little, you know, in over his head? He's got potential, though. Indigo said the same thing. He might be pretty good at the whole Hunter thing one day."

Ozpin cracked a little smile. "Glynda had a similar opinion. What about the team in general?"

On this, Opher struggled to formulate an answer; the price of being so alone for such lengthy periods, he had to admit to himself. A patient Ozpin gave him plenty of time to think it out. "I can tell you this," he finally began, "They stood and fought in that tunnel. I'm not sure another team on this campus besides Ruby and Yang's would have done that. Not if they'd seen as many Grimm as _we_ saw."

"I disagree, but I'm glad to hear about JNPR's courage." After a few more seconds, Opher began to get up again. Ozpin motioned for him to sit once more. "Just a moment. What about Miss Nikos?"

Opher thought it odd for the headmaster to call her out at first, but he rationalized it as Pyrrha being a celebrity and, frankly, the best fighter on her team. He rubbed back his hair and sighed. "Insanely skilled. Ridiculously talented. Stubborn as hell. She's gonna get herself killed trying to help people one of these days. But… I don't think anyone could ask for a better partner. Hell, that goes for all of them. They really stuck together."

"Hmm. Again, I am glad to hear it." Ozpin nodded to the elevator. "Good day, Mister Riese. I suspect you'll be hearing from us sometime or another."

"Yeah, I bet." But before he started to leave, Opher stopped yet again. "I hope Indigo gets, I dunno, a promotion or something," he said. "After all that, she's earned it."

"The Army is under His Majesty's purview, but rest assured I'll put in a good word for her." Ozpin rose to see his guest out. "A piece of advice, if I may."

Opher shook his head with a smirk. "I doubt my saying 'no' is gonna stop you, so go ahead."

The headmaster delivered it as they reached the elevator. "I suggest you find some end toward which to put your might. A cause, a person, whatever suits you."

A smiling Opher stepped through the doors as they opened and faced Ozpin. "God, you sound like my dad." Once the doors were closed and the car started to descend, he produced his Scroll and stared at Indigo's goofy face on the screen. His face softened in thought.

* * *

As morning crumbled away into afternoon, however, Opher's nascent reason appeared to be in no rush to make contact. It occurred to him to head back to the derailment site and see if Indigo was still there, but something stopped him. As he stared at the faint column of wispy smoke that continued to rise from that area, Opher tried to reconcile what that was.

Eventually, he settled on the flimsy reasoning that he'd just be a distraction. Wholly unsatisfied, he turned away from the smoky sky and proceeded toward the roof entrance to go back to his apartment. Other thoughts occupied him, but even those were related to her. Withholding Cinder's plot from Ozpin might guarantee his doom, but how badly would it affect Indigo? He stopped halfway down the stairwell and stared at the wall as he realized the cycle had well and truly begun again. Opher gazed at his tattoos with a bitter frown. "If it gets too bad, I guess I can always kill her myself," he admitted, paying special attention to a few of the names.

A problem for another day, Opher decided, moving on down the steps. He gently moved past a diminutive janitor in the hallway and entered his apartment. In an instant he realized staying cramped up in here would do him no good. "Oh, to hell with this." He went into his bedroom, snatched up a few Lien cards, and prepared to go shopping. When he went to put that money under his hat as always, however, Opher looked up at his bare head in the mirror. "Well, that's the first thing I need to buy."

Despite the morning's events, Vale seemed to be humming right along. Opher detected some nervousness in the conversations of passersby, but in almost all instances those were followed by a "but" and then praise for the Atlesian Army, or Vale's own soldiers, or Hunters, or someone else who'd responded. As he reached the shopping district and the crowd grew, something less pleasant began to happen.

"Hey, it's one of those Hunters from the tunnel!" a man shouted and waved.

"Oh boy," Opher muttered under his breath. He tried to blend into the masses, but his tattoos made it incredibly difficult. People kept calling out his presence; after three or four episodes of this, he ducked into a shop to hide. Fortunately, it was a clothing store with hats on the back wall. Unfortunately, it also had a TV over the counter. The female cashier was too busy watching it to notice his arrival. In the lower right corner of its screen were pictures of Teams JNPR and RWBY, along with Indigo and himself. The rest of the image was taken up by a reporter on scene at the plaza or obnoxious breaking news graphics. "Oh, god," Opher groaned, hiding his eyes.

"Huh?" the cashier blurted out. She turned around, looked at Opher, then back up at the TV. "Hey… wait a second…"

"Don't mind me," he replied, shuffling quickly toward the back. "Seriously. Don't."

She didn't listen. "You're one of the-!"

With teeth clenched, Opher ignored her and plucked a blue and black camouflage boonie off the shelf. "How much?" he asked, waving it at her.

The cashier bounced behind the register, apparently giddy over her chance encounter with one of Vale's newest celebrities. "Are you kidding? It's on-"

"Why did I even ask?" Opher sighed, flicking a red Lien card at her. "Just keep the change." The moment he got outside, he tore the tag out of his new hat, put it on, and stuffed the rest of his Lien under it. He'd barely completed this process when someone else in the crowd recognized him. "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

Opher fell back on the one thing that always worked: running. He disappeared into the tight alleyways, turning left or right whenever the opportunity presented itself. No one really pursued him after the first few corners, but he kept going for a solid ten minutes nonetheless. Satisfied that he'd lost the crowd, Opher took stock of his surroundings and found he'd ended up fairly close to the derailment site; pale gray smoke towered above him in the blue sky. Since nobody was around, he boosted himself to the rooftops to get a better view.

He'd picked the wrong rooftop, or maybe the right one. Lying prone in the corner opposite was Indigo, looking through the scope of her sniper rifle. She was too focused on whatever had her attention to see him. The other Valesian soldier with her, a woman with starkly green hair, did. "Hey, how did you get up here?" she asked while turning to face him.

"Who?" Indigo looked up, then back. "Oh." She sat up and scratched under her beret. "What are you doing here?

"I was shopping," Opher replied, pointing at his new hat. "Thought the Army would be done here by now." He would have approached, but the other soldier seemed tense. "Thought the Army would have been done by now."

"We're still checking the integrity of the tunnel," the grassy-headed trooper replied. "You aren't even supposed to be-"

"Oh my god, Corporal, let it go. He was _in_ that tunnel. Shit, he's the reason this fucking city isn't full of Grimm right now."

Stunned, she looked back at Indigo with wide purple eyes. "Really, ma'am?" To confirm this, she produced a silvery Scroll. "Oh. Ah… so you are," she acknowledged after seeing his picture on the news. "Never mind."

"Uh… yeah." Opher adjusted his hat and sighed. "I thought they'd at least let _you_ go home."

Indigo shrugged off his assertion. "Eh. They stuck me up here so the reporters would stop chasing me."

Opher walked past the still-bewildered Corporal and sat on the edge of the roof near Indigo's position. A few people, some in uniform, some not, seemed to be patching up the gaping hole in the ground. Opher was able to pick out General Ironwood among their number, though he was off to the side speaking to a gaggle of media. "Aiming at anyone in particular?" he asked, nodding at her weapon.

Indigo's eyes became distant. "Nah, not this time."

"I'll just… be over here," the Corporal interjected, skittering off to the far corner of the rooftop.

"Good, you fucking greenhorn," Indigo muttered under her breath. "And I'm not just saying that because of your hair, either."

Opher snickered faintly. "Sounds like you've been having a great time."

It also seemed like she was nearer her usual self again. "Man, what the fuck is going on here? Roman Torchwick and the White Fang tried to kill us all! Why?!" she ranted at the sky.

"I don't get it either," he admitted with a nod. "But I guess we know where all that Dust he stole went."

"No kidding. Holy hell." Indigo ditched her beret entirely and stood. "Hey, uh…" She hesitated until Opher looked up at her. "Are Hunters really _that_ much more powerful than regular soldiers? Like… damn. Pyrrha and Nora were ridiculous."

"They're probably special cases," he replied, eyes returning to the activity below them.

"Then what the hell does that make _you_?"

Opher's face went blank. "An average fighter with a lot of experience," he said at length.

"Stop being so damn modest." Indigo donned her beret and went prone again. "By the way," she began as she placed her eye to the scope, "My deployment got shortened 'cause, you know, it would suck if I got killed now that I'm sort of famous or whatever. They're not gonna send me out, but I'm technically still activated. I'll see you at the shop Monday morning."

"All right," Opher said with a nod. It only hit him a few seconds later. "Wait, I still work for you?"

"Yep." Indigo blew a few errant strands of hair out of her face. "You saved my business and my ass twice… no, three times, so that counts for something. You know, honestly, if I were as strong as you, I don't think I'd be totally forthcoming about everything either."

Opher, surprised at this, cocked his head in thought. "How do you figure?"

"'Cause the whole kingdom would be on my ass to do something about _everything_. I don't want that kind of responsibility."

"You've got a point," he said with a smile. "That's a bit strange coming from a soldier, though. What happened to following orders, King and kingdom and all that?"

"Fuck the King. I could take or leave the kingdom. I'd rather be in Mistral with my family, but…"

"Hmm?" Opher said, his head tilting again.

A steely-eyed Indigo frowned to herself. "I don't think they'd want to see me."

Opher stared at her for clarification, but she shirked eye contact altogether. Eventually, he looked away. "Maybe that's why we get along so well," he remarked idly. "Our closets are full of skeletons."

"Yeah. Maybe." Indigo sighed quietly as she put various people in the crowd in her crosshairs. "Or maybe you're too much like me," she added under her breath.


	17. Chapter 17

Despite Ozpin and Ironwood's best efforts, by that evening some of the media's attention still managed to reach those students involved in the breach. Teams RWBY and JNPR were currently at the front of a lecture hall to field questions during an organized event. Glynda Goodwitch loomed over the assembly at the rear, ready to pull the plug if she detected awkward questions from the press.

Pyrrha dealt with the press with cool, polite professionalism. "Frightening?" she said, repeating the gist of a reporter's inquiry. "In hindsight, I suppose, but you have to put aside emotions like that for the good of the people around you."

"Also, it's kinda hard to be scared when you've got Nora," Jaune added. She waved happily when he thumbed her way.

Yang snickered at his quip, then threw in two cents of her own. "We're gonna be Hunters one day, you know? Won't have much time to be afraid." Ruby, sitting beside her, seemed more terrified of the press than she'd been at any point during the breach. "Uh, Ruby? You okay?" she quietly asked.

"Why are there so many lights?" she hissed in reply.

"Oh, uh…" Now that her sister had brought it up, Yang realized she'd was forced to squint every time she looked into the crowd. "You wanna borrow my sunglasses?"

"Miss Rose!" one of the reporters yelled out. "How does it feel to be called a hero?"

Ruby tensed up with a weird, toothy smile plastered across her face. "Well, it's… I mean…" She began nudging Weiss desperately for assistance, but the heiress only elbowed her back. Her brain raced for something eloquent. "We're not heroes. This is what we're supposed to do. A-as Hunters. Right?" One furtive look at her teammates later, she tacked on quickly, "Yeah. We're just doing our… jobs. Technically."

"That was lovely," Weiss muttered to her as the gaggle fought for the right to ask the next question, "even if you butchered the delivery a little."

"Why did you think I was elbowing you? I needed fancy words!" Ruby whispered harshly.

Weiss tossed her ponytail and looked away. "I'm not your personal thesaurus."

Those silver eyes narrowed playfully. "I thought you were gonna be the best, most dependable teammate."

"Ah, well…"

"Jaune Arc! For Jaune Arc!" a female reporter yelled until the gaggle became quiet enough for her to speak. "We know virtually nothing about the two people that came out of the tunnel with your team. What can you tell us about them?"

"Oh, uh…" He couldn't see Glynda past the glaring light and had no idea how to answer the question. "Pyrrha, help, I don't know what to do," he finally had to whisper to her.

The redhead got it under control in an instant. "I think it's their prerogative to come forward or not," she explained politely. "We don't have the right to speak on their behalf."

"Miss Nikos is absolutely correct," Glynda bellowed over the unhappy rancor that followed Pyrrha's non-answer. "Interviews with the Huntsman and Sergeant should be arranged through Beacon or the Valesian Army public relations office respectively."

"But they've denied all our requests to talk to them!" a male reporter protested. "I had to get Indigo Stahl's name out of an anonymous source and barely anybody seems to know who the Huntsman is! What's the deal?"

"We will discuss that another time. If you have more questions for the students, ask them. If not, this availability is over." Glynda, by now standing between the reporters and her students, adjusted her glasses as the press begrudgingly headed for the exits. "I'm surprised that lasted as long as it did."

"Hey, um, Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby said, her hand raised slightly. "Reporter guy's got a point, sort of. Why aren't the Huntsmen and Indigo up here getting any of the spotlight with us?"

"Doctor Oobleck isn't that kind of man," Glynda replied while turning to face her. "As for Mister Riese and Sergeant Stahl… it's complicated."

"He doesn't deserve the acclaim anyway," Blake grumbled lowly. This earned her a glance from Yang, but nothing else was said.

"Why on Remnant would it be complicated for Indigo?" Pyrrha wondered out loud. "Not to seem derisive, but she's just a soldier."

Glynda turned away without answering her question and started for the door. "You all have the rest of the day to yourselves, but don't wander too far. We may need you to speak with the investigators again."

Once she left, the speculation began. "Okay, what?" Yang said with a frown. "Indigo never mentioned anything weird about her Army days." Her face suddenly went blank. "Actually… she never really talked about being in the service at all."

"My dad said grandpa was like that," Jaune added with a thoughtful frown. "Didn't tell too many war stories."

"Those experiences probably aren't pleasant to remember." Weiss glanced around and found Blake still seething. "You look like you're about to stab something."

"He's a monster," she stated frigidly.

Awkward tension spread across both teams' faces. "But he saved the _entire_ city," Nora countered. "Like, all of it."

"Oh, man," Yang sighed through her fingers. "Look, we gotta get this smoothed over. Something big's going on and I'd rather have Opher on our side than not, so…. Ruby! You still got his number?"

"Huh?" Ruby struggled with the inconvenient pockets on her skirt, but eventually produced the device. "Uh… yes," she confirmed after a moment.

"I'm not going to talk to him," Blake warned her, voice elevated slightly.

Yang shot her refusal down with a tight grin. "Yeah you are. You've bottled this crap up long enough."

"Am I supposed to call him, or…?" Ruby looked between her sister, Blake, and Weiss for some sort of direction. "Blake? I think Yang has a point. If you've got a problem with him, we need to deal with it."

Blake's thin eyebrows twitched with displeasure. " _Fine_."

Ruby laughed nervously at the sheer venom in her response. "Good enough." She tapped her Scroll again. It rang several times, but Opher never answered. "Okay, now what?"

"Try it again," Yang suggested. Ruby did so with a nod, but got the same result as before. The blonde rolled her eyes unhappily. "Ugh, figures."

"And we can't exactly leave campus," Weiss mused. "Oh well. It'll have to wait."

Pyrrha had been thinking on it since the subject had come up. "Opher does seem to have something of a brutal streak in him. I wonder why?"

Blake continued to maintain her hardline stance on the matter. "There isn't an excuse."

"Haven't we done the same thing?"

Everyone looked to Ruby, who tensed up with a nervous smile. "Yang explody-punched a guy in the head last night. I don't think he lived through that."

"Nah, I just knocked him out." The blonde's smile faded with time, however. "He probably died in the train crash, though. Huh…"

"Opher seems to enjoy it," Pyrrha chimed in. They all looked to her; she shrugged once at their attention and added, "Or he doesn't show much, I don't know, remorse? Seriousness? I think that's Blake's problem."

"Yes," Blake confirmed. "It shouldn't be so easy for someone to take another life."

Jaune brought the entire discussion to a halt with an immensely heavy sentiment. "Man, you know we're gonna end up like him eventually. This isn't exactly the most pleasant work we signed up for?"

Everyone, even Nora, wilted uncomfortably under his words in silence until a determined-looking Ruby stood up and said loudly, "No! I don't believe that. We might have to do awful things, but that doesn't mean we'll get used to it, much less _like_ it." The collective response to this was underwhelming, causing her to squirm in her boots. "Right? Guys?"

Ruby found support from the place she least expected it: Blake. "I agree. None of us are anything like Opher," she said through a frown.

"Yeeeeeah." Ruby tapped her Scroll again. "Speaking of…"

On this occasion, however, the ringing ceased after three times. "If someone got lost again," a bored-sounding Opher said, "you can find them yourselves. I'm in the middle of eating."

"Hi, Opher!" Ruby covered her mouth to obscure the reflexive snort at his name. "Blake wants to talk to you."

"If she wants to talk to me so bad, why didn't she come find me at the amphitheater this morning?"

Ruby stared into space for a moment before tossing her Scroll to Blake. "I don't-" she began to snap at her leader. She clenched her teeth and took a breath while struggling for words. "I have a problem with the way you fight."

His response was almost dismissive. "Join the club."

Yang decided to jump in and help. "Look, man, you're kind of, I dunno… having too much fun?"

Opher had the perfect rebuttal for her, too. "To hear Indigo tell the story, so do you."

"Hey, I don't get a kick out of killing people!" she responded fiercely. "I might like to fight, but…"

"You remind me too much of someone I used to know," Blake interjected. "The type of person I _don't_ want around my friends."

"How terrible," Opher said idly. "Look, you've gotten us wrapped up in this bullshit now. We're stuck with each other."

"All we're asking is that you tone it down," Pyrrha offered. "Just a little."

"Not gonna happen. This isn't like fighting the Grimm. You need to send a message-"

"That's exactly what he would say!" Blake roared, slamming a fist on the table. Her entire frame trembled with emotion; none of them had seen her quite this upset before.

And Opher could not have cared less about her wrath. "Why are you mad? Because he was right?"

"Stop it!" Ruby demanded. "You're not helping!"

"Of course I'm not. I'm trying to piss her off enough to come find me so we can get this out of her system. We have bigger things to worry about, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked as she leaned closer. "Roman Torchwick is in custody. The White Fang lost hundreds of members to the Grimm in the tunnel system, not to mention the ones you so gleefully killed. This is over."

"You _stupid_ child."

"How dare you!" Weiss shot back, so incensed she had to stand up. "Don't call me stupid!"

Opher showed no remorse for his assertion. "I'm calling you stupid because you are. If you really think a crook like Roman Torchwick has the capacity or creativity to come up with a plan like we just stopped, we're all fucked." He at least took Weiss' silence as a positive sign. "Good, sounds like you're thinking."

"We did talk about it earlier," Jaune admitted. "It didn't really make a lot of sense. Still doesn't."

"You know something we don't?" Yang asked Opher cooly.

"I know plenty of things you don't; it's called experience. Hunting isn't just about fists and firepower. You better start using your heads." He paused briefly before adding. "Anyway, Blake knows where I live. If you have a problem with me, come solve it. I'll be waiting."

"We can't leave campus," Pyrrha said. "There's no need to fight over this regardless. If you would just-"

"Maybe I should come to you, then." With that, Opher hung up.

His displeased tone stuck with them. Nora was the one to break the uncertain silence. "He wouldn't… would he?"

"How did that go so wrong?" Ruby muttered to herself.

"I'm sure he wouldn't," Pyrrha assured her teammate. "Opher is just being a little abrasive, that's all."

Meanwhile, Ruby still remained alone in her own little conversation. "That could not have gone any more wrong."

"Abrasive? You're putting it politely. Someone really needs to put that man in his place." Weiss said through a bitter scowl.

"Eh," Yang began with a casual wave, "we could take him."

Jaune let out a nervous laugh. "No you couldn't." He wilted under Team RWBY's stares, but maintained his stance. "Ask them," he said, nodding to his team.

"He did sort of blow himself up with Dust," Pyrrha confirmed, her brow furrowed. "It was pretty… spectacular."

"And we wrecked a Paladin," a grinning Yang replied. "We'd win. There's more of us. You know, I kind of want to fight him now. It'd be great training for the tournament." Thoughts of Opher's massacre of the White Fang killed her smile. "On the other hand, though…"

"And he eats…" Weiss trailed off and sat down again. "Maybe Jaune has a point."

"Let's talk about this later." Ruby yawned broadly and stumbled to her feet. "It's waaaay past nap time."

"Awww, you gettin' grumpy 'cause you're tired?" Yang cooed while ruffling her sister's hair.

"Stop!" she yelped, trying to swat away her hand.

"I'll be in the library," Blake stated curtly, stopping their spat cold.

"Wait, Blake-" Ruby began, only to find herself being ignored. They watched her get up and leave after that in resigned silence. "I guess we'll just give her a little while?"

Jaune caught Pyrrha yawning during this exchange and nudged her with a smile. "Speaking of sleepy… guess it's back to our room for us, huh?" He looked over as Ren and Nora nodded their agreement. "Pyrrha? You coming?"

Based on the slouch in her posture, it seemed like the day had caught up to Pyrrha so hard she could no longer even try to hide her tiredness. "I guess I could do with a nap myself," the redhead admitted, rising up with another yawn.

* * *

Evening faded into night as Ruby caught up on her sleep, but neither Yang nor Weiss felt tired enough to try and rest. While the heiress contented herself with getting ahead on some history assignments, Yang wiled away the time with a fighting game on the console she and Ruby had brought from Patch.

"Ah, man," the blonde grumbled. "I can't get this combo down. Left, left-down, kick… oh, wow, that's the exact opposite of what I wanted. Geez."

"You've been at that for an hour," Weiss noted quietly.

"I know. It's really bugging me." That wasn't the only thing gnawing at Yang; she sneaked a glance over at Blake's empty bed and frowned. "Figured Blake would be back by now."

Weiss looked over at it herself, but only for a moment. "I'll bet you ten Lien she fell asleep in a book again."

"Wouldn't surprise me. She didn't even remember to take her Scroll." It sat on the floor beside Yang's left knee.

Each girl went back to their own devices, but a few moments later, three solid knocks came from the door. "Speak of the devil," a suddenly-cheerful Yang said as she hopped up. "I got it."

The person standing behind the door as she opened it, however, wasn't Blake. Arms folded and peering down from under the blue brim of his hat stood a smirking Opher. Weiss quickly stood up upon seeing him, while Yang took one step back; their uneasy silence only made his smile larger. "Did you think I was kidding about coming to you?" he asked, testing for their reactions.

"She isn't here," the heiress said frigidly.

"Oh, well." Opher fell silent and let the tension build for a few seconds before deciding to defuse it. "One of you has Indigo's assault rifle. She wanted me to get it."

"That would be Jaune." Yang waved, pointed at the door across the hall, and proceeded to close her own.

But before she could get it shut, Opher said "Good, then I can deal with Blake."

In one quick chain of motions, Yang opened the door again, slipped out into the hallway, and closed it behind her before Weiss could even begin to object. She stared up at Opher until he detected her presence again and looked back.

"What?" he asked, an eyebrow cocked.

" _Deal_ with Blake?" she repeated venomously. "I don't like your tone."

"I'm sure you don't." Opher turned away and knocked thrice on JNPR's door.

When it opened, Nora peeked out and up. She managed a smile at Yang, though it turned a bit strained as she regarded Opher. "Oh, hey skinny. What's cracking?"

He matched her expression, though his disposition was genuinely sunny. "Does Jaune still have Indigo's rifle? She wants it back."

"Oooo, yeah. Just a sec."

After she disappeared, Yang expected to be addressed again. Opher paid her no mind at all. "Hey, don't ignore me!" she snapped, her fists clenched with displeasure.

"I'll get to you," he replied curtly, his eyes remaining ahead.

Jaune popped into view a few seconds later. "Sorry about that," he said, handing the weapon over to Opher. "They wanted us back here right away. I didn't get a chance to look for her." He noticed Yang's presence, and the tension in her eyes, but said nothing.

"It's fine," Opher replied, examining the rifle. While the exterior had become slightly scorched, Pyrrha's signature remained clearly visible; whether or not it was still in working order would be something for Indigo to determine. "Looks like it survived all right."

"Yeah, it-" Jaune had to stop short because Yang was now growling lowly. "What's going on here?" he asked, pointing between her and Opher.

He continued to examine the rifle. "I'm teasing Yang and she does _not_ seem to like it."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna get mad when you talk about my partner like you're here to fight her," she snapped harshly.

"Riiiight." Jaune looked past them as Weiss opened Team RWBY's door and dragged her sleepy leader outside.

"Yang, please stop whatever you're doing so Weiss will let me sleep," Ruby complained nasally. She straightened with surprise upon registering Opher. "Oh, you're here," she added, eyes narrowing a bit. "Why?"

"For this," he explained, nodding to the rifle. "Then I'm gonna go have a chat with Blake."

Pyrrha arrived at Jaune's side just in time to hear that remark and sighed quietly. "Opher, can't you handle this another time? It's been a long day."

"I'd rather save the trip." And with that, Opher was off.

Yang stayed on his heels as he walked down the corridor. "I'm going with you."

"Yang Xiao Long!" Weiss said loudly, but the blonde ignored her. "Ugh. Ruby, get dressed." She let go of her leader and also gave chase.

While Ruby retreated into her room, Team JNPR left theirs and moved as one after Weiss, Yang, and Opher. "Come on, man!" Nora complained. "I wanna go to bed!"

"Then go," Opher replied over his shoulder. "I don't know why the hell you're all following me. I don't even know where Blake _is_."

"Oh!" Yang came to a stop with a huge grin on her face. "Ha, you look pretty dumb n-"

Opher had stopped too, but to point down the hall at a completely bewildered Blake. "Never mind, I found her."

"Why is he here?" she asked Yang and Weiss.

"'Cause you've still got a problem with me, apparently," he answered without hesitation. "And I'd like to get it worked out."

Weiss transitioned from huffy to grumpy and slammed her hands onto her hips. "This _seriously_ could have waited until tomorrow."

"Like I said, I'm saving the trip." He was also hedging his bets. No matter what Cinder was planning, Opher couldn't be in multiple places at once. He needed competent people to back up or watch over Indigo, just in case. JNPR's team cohesion seemed fine; after all, he'd witnessed it first hand. He had problems with RWBY. Blake was the quiet type, with which he had no issue, but that didn't explain why she felt the need to hide her Faunus heritage. If anyone knew about keeping secrets, it was Opher. He wondered what else she might be hiding.

Blake let him know where she stood immediately. "I am not going to-"

"I noticed you weren't with them," he cut her off with a nod to Yang and Weiss. She lacked a quick comeback for that one, so Opher turned to Yang. "She do this often?"

"Uh, she likes her space sometimes," Yang replied quietly.

"I'm here!" Ruby gasped, stumbling into view with her bootlaces untied. Weiss had to stop her from tumbling forward as she slowed to a halt. "Thank you." Upon seeing Blake, she added, "Oh, you're back too. That's cool."

It didn't seem like Opher was going to back down, so Blake tried again. "This discussion is over," she said, walking toward him. "Let me by."

Opher started searching for nerves to hit. "Oh, are you running from me?" The breathtaking look of hostility on her face said he'd succeeded. "I guess you are."

Blake forced her way past, almost toppling Weiss in the process, and sprinted for the dorm room. Only after a quick check of her pockets did she notice she had no Scroll to unlock it. "Someone please let me in," she requested awkwardly.

"I got it," Yang said, jogging over to her. Just when she thought the situation seemed to be calming down, however, Opher gently pushed his way through the crowd to follow Blake in. The blonde put her foot down in more ways than one. " _No_."

Instead of responding to her directly, however, Opher looked at Jaune and Pyrrha. "She thinks she can stop me."

"You're not seriously considering…" Pyrrha, unable to read his expression, began to panic. "Opher!"

Since Blake seemed intent on escaping his attention, Opher finally chose to let her partner have it instead. "I don't know what you've been up to, but it led to me blowing myself up to save your fucking city," he said, glaring at Yang. "All I ask in return is to know exactly where Blake stands. The girl seems a bit wishy-washy. I mean, she was talking pretty big over the Scroll, but now she runs away?"

Yang met his stern displeasure with her own. "We trust her. That should be enough for you."

His annoyance gave way to a caustic smile. "It isn't."

"Okay!" Ruby said, cutting in between them. She took Opher by the hand and led him away. "Come on."

"Where are you going?" Weiss demanded.

When the heiress tried to follow, however, Ruby pointed at her with a furious shake of her head. "No. I got this. Just wait for me."

Opher let her tug him along for a few seconds before extracting his hand. "This should be good."

Ruby hid her eyes while she tried to collect her thoughts. "Look, Blake has… uh… history."

This admission wasn't nearly enough. "And?" Opher urged her with a wave.

"She was…" A hesitant Ruby went through great pains to make sure nobody else was listening in. "...in the White Fang a while back."

"Oh." His face softened in thought. "That explains a _lot_. Did I kill someone she knew?"

Her jaw dropped at his bluntness. "Wow. I don't know? That's not really the kind of question you ask someone. Um, I don't think you did? You're just kind of brutal and it makes us uncomfortable."

"It apparently makes Blake _very_ uncomfortable."

Ruby shrugged once and turned away slightly. "Well, she's a Faunus. It seems like you've been killing a lot of them since you got here."

Opher took a second to adjust his hat before answering. "A lot of them have been attacking me. I'm not just murdering everyone."

"I know, it's just..." Ruby tugged at the hood of her red cloak in thought. "Okay, that's fine, but could you stop being so, you know," she trailed off, hands waving as she groped for the right word, "gruesome about it? Seriously."

Arms folded loosely, Opher decided to frame his denial of her request as a question. "If I told you to stop fighting with your scythe, what would you tell me?"

Ruby's answer was instantaneous. "I'd tell you to get lost."

"That's kind of what I'm telling you. Worry less about how I fight and more about yourselves." Opher turned on his heel, but didn't leave. "Speaking of fights, can I trust Blake in one?"

"Absolutely! Like Yang said, we all do." Ruby didn't care for his lack of response and darted in front of him. "What?"

"I need to know if she's gonna run," he said. "Like she just ran."

An affirmation wasn't so quick to escape Ruby's lips this time. "I… well…"

"Your honesty is appreciated." Opher started walking back toward the others. "And I admit, I was kind of being a dick. I wanted to see how everyone would react now that they know how strong I am. I'm glad to see Yang still wanted to fight me."

Ruby snorted a few times as she caught up to him. "She wants to fight _everybody_."

"At least she didn't call me Gopher this time." Opher grinned as she snorted again.

The mighty blonde was the first person to greet them as they returned. "So, what's up? Are we good?" she asked her sister, still wary of Opher.

"Ah, we're fine," Ruby assured her with a wave. "Really. He just wanted to know what was going on with Blake."

"And you told him?" Weiss asked, a brow raised.

"Well, yeah." Ruby looked up at Opher, then back at her partner. "I don't think he's gonna go around telling everyone."

"Her secret is safe with me," he assured them. His eyes went to Jaune next. "While you're standing there… did Ozpin tell you about the report I gave him?"

Jaune rubbed his neck with a little smile. "Yeah. Thanks for the compliments."

"You earned them. Now get." Opher shooed them back toward their room.

Pyrrha, unsurprisingly, required the most urging before she left. "I'll call you tomorrow!" she said around the closing door. "Same time as always!"

"Yeah, yeah," Opher muttered as he turned away. The other girls were also in the process of heading into their room. "Hey, hold on a second."

Yang, being at the end of the line, responded to him since the rest of her team were already inside. "Huh? What?"

"Still up for a fight?"

Her face went blank as she tried to figure out what he meant; abruptly, her eyes lit up. "If you're gonna try and barge in here, you bet I am."

Opher regarded her bravado with a tiny smile. "Tell you what: I'll drop by tomorrow and we can go a few rounds. I mean, the way Indigo talks you up, you should have no problem kicking my ass."

Her expression went from tense to excited. "Oh, you're on!" she said, pointing at him as she went into the dorm room.

His smile only lasted until Yang went out of sight; Opher turned away from Team RWBY's door with a blank face and started walking. Once outside, he shifted Indigo's rifle to the other shoulder to get out his Scroll and call her. "I got your rifle from Jaune," he said. "Should I drop it off or do you want to pick it up?"

"Oh, thank god. Is Pyrrha's autograph still on it?"

Despite expecting that question, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, it's there."

"Good. Uh, I'll drop by tomorrow but I won't get out of the armory until six."

Opher gazed at the twinkling stars above. "No problem. I have a date with Yang in the morning anyway." He laughed at the surprised noise Indigo emitted. "Just a friendly sparring match, that's all."

"Dude, no. You're gonna kill her."

His eyes came back down to Remnant as he started walking again. "I wouldn't dare kill your only regular customer. I'm only in it to see what she's got. Maybe her team will fight me too."

Indigo's voice grew suspicious. "You're up to something."

Opher's jaw set. "Yeah; I'm doing my due diligence. Something big is going on. I want to know what kind of help I can expect in case there are too many holes for me to plug the next time."

"Fuck me, man, if there's a next time I'm moving to Vacuo."

"Not a bad idea," he replied after a low snicker. "Then again, I hear the criminals are even worse than the kind you get around Vale."

"Whatever, I've got enough ammunition to make them think twice." A brief pause came next. "I better go, the Captain's eyeballing me. See you later."

"Yeah. See you." Opher hung up and slipped the device back into his pocket. As he headed toward the small residential area that braced one side of Beacon's campus, an abrupt uneasiness stung his mind. It distinctly felt like eyes were on him. He came to a stop and turned to look up at Beacon's tower. While staring at it, however, he heard the distinct sound of a camera shutter. No amount of whirling around and searching the nearby bushes could tell him who'd just taken a picture. "What the hell?" he muttered, shoving his head into some of the shrubbery. "You could have asked first!" he added loudly. After a few more seconds of fruitless searching, Opher gave up and continued on his way.

Behind him, safely tucked up against a tree trunk and out of view, Neo checked the picture she'd just taken with her Scroll. No matter how much she adjusted the brightness and contrast, getting Opher's tattoos to stand out enough proved impossible. Despite this, she sent the image to Cinder with a simple question attached: _Any good?_

Her answer came quickly. _Not good enough. Try again._

Neo snapped her fingers and scowled, but a second later she darted into the shadows, determined to carry out her mission.

* * *

As Opher slogged up the stairs toward his floor of the apartment building, he couldn't help but feel the building seemed a little quieter than usual. A check down the hallway seemed to confirm this; at this time of night, he could usually hear the voices of the other occupants through the walls. Nobody was talking tonight. He didn't care much for the silence. It made thinking too easy.

He opened his apartment door and took only one step inside before realizing a problem: he didn't have to unlock it. Eyes narrowed, Opher quietly stepped back into the hallway and shut the door again. After one long look in either direction, he opened it to peek in. A flick of his finger brought up just enough air to turn on the lights in the living room, which proved clear after he checked behind the sofa. The kitchen was next. "I know someone is in here," he called while passing the threshold. Even the refrigerator got opened in his sweep for intruders. Every room and closet Opher checked, however, was as empty as he'd left it. Confused, he wandered back into the hallway to think. "What the hell?"

Since no harm seemed to be done, he decided to let it go. But upon turning to his right to re-enter his apartment, he heard the faint sound of another camera shutter. The stairwell was too close to have contained the source of the sound, so Opher launched himself toward the other end of the hallway. He expected to see _someone_ around the corner, but this corridor was just as empty. While he initially thought it had been a reporter tailing him, now he wasn't so sure. "Sure are fast for a paparazzo…" he muttered, walking back to his apartment. He decided to see if Indigo had been having similar trouble with a text message.

Her answer only made him even more suspicious. _What?_ _That shit's illegal in Vale._

Opher squinted into space. If it wasn't the media stalking him, then who? Ozpin didn't seem like the spying type. This left only one other obvious possibility. "That bitch," he hissed lowly. Before he could get too angry, he wondered if Cinder was simply making sure he kept his end of their deal. If so, he could live with it. The more Opher thought, however, the more he wondered if it might be the White Fang. After all, they'd definitely taken pictures of him before. Again, he could live with this. Their ineffectual wrath would be focused at him; blows he could easily withstand, should they choose to strike. For an instant, Opher thought about wiping out whatever remained of their number in Vale with a smirk.

Work for another day, he decided. This one had been full enough.

A disguised Neo peeked out from the stairwell just long enough to ensure Opher entered his apartment before retreating out of sight. She almost skipped down the steps and out onto the street, a look of self-satisfaction on her face. This picture needed no tweaking; she sent it straight on to Cinder and awaited a reply.

Only a few moments passed before she got one. _Well done. Prepare for your transfer tomorrow, but I want you to keep an eye on our friend until the festival begins._

Had she her parasol on hand, Neo would have twirled it smugly. She settled instead for a broad smile and a puffed chest as she danced her way southeast toward the industrial district.

* * *

Cinder, alone in her room at Beacon, gave Neo's freshly arrived image one more look over. His tattoos stood out in crisp focus; she reckoned her spy couldn't have done a better job if she'd asked for the photo. After entering the long passcode for her special communication app, she sent the picture to Salem's representative. "As She requested," she dictated while typing.

Once finished, Cinder shut down the app, but not her Scroll. Given the late hour, she rose from her chair, intent on preparing for bed since an answer would likely only arrive in the morning. Before she could reach the bathroom, however, her Scroll emitted a strange, warped chime. Initially, all she could do was look at the device with confusion; it took a second or two for the sound to click and her feet to start moving.

After entering the code again, she found a message waiting. _She is pleased, but now She asks another favor of you._

Cinder's brow creased in thought. _I stand ready._

_Trace his history as far back as you can manage. She needs to know if he truly is who he says._

Cinder's interest was piqued at the way this statement was framed, but she kept her curiosity to herself. _Anything specific I should seek?_

This answer took a few moments to get. _Whatever information you uncover will be useful. Omit nothing._

 _Understood._ Cinder went through the complete shutdown process and set her Scroll aside to think. Where would she even begin? One place sprang to mind immediately. Since Opher now found himself in the news thanks to the breach, perhaps her communications tap would yield something. She picked up her Scroll and began an idle search. The distinct lack of anything caused her brow to furrow, but things changed when she turned her exploration to Beacon's internal network. A news article about ancient tablets seemed to have been making the rounds between Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, and people currently beyond her prying eyes. Normally, Cinder wouldn't have given it a second look, but the symbols in the image seemed oddly familiar. She brought up the picture of Opher's tattoos and compared them.

Upon discovering some of those markings on his arm, she started to read the article more closely. The estimated age of the archaeological find stopped her cold. " _What_?" she snapped. "Eight thousand…" Salem's order suddenly took new context. How far back did she want Cinder to look? Why did she suddenly want proof of his identity? Combining this with what she already knew startled her so much, the Scroll slipped right out of her hand.

Knocking derailed Cinder's train of thought. She counted them off. Four knocks meant Emerald. "Enter," she said while retrieving her Scroll.

The thief only poked her head past the doorway. "This new room arrangement blows," she muttered mostly to herself. "Mercury left his Scroll in here like a dumbass. Don't mind me."

"It is over there," Cinder said, pointing a slender finger toward the other desk. Once Emerald moved to get it, she stopped her with a command. "I have two tasks for you."

"Yes ma'am?" Emerald replied, stuffing the Scroll into her pocket.

"First, I want you to use your Semblance on Opher Riese again. I want to see you use it."

Emerald froze stiff with terror as she processed this order. "But, ma'am, it didn't work on him. It-"

"I recall. You mentioned it gave you a headache." Cinder rubbed her chin in thought. "As if more than one person occupied his body." Something about this also rang familiar. "You have a novel about such a thing, do you not?"

" _Of Two Hearts_ , you mean? Yeah." Before her mistress could get too deep in contemplation, Emerald gently added, "You, uh, wanted me to do something else, ma'am?"

Cinder cast an idle glance her way. "Since you love to read, I want you to search every fable and fairy tale you can get your hands on for indications of Opher Riese. His tattoos could be a good place to start."

"I don't understand." Emerald took Cinder's Scroll as she handed it over and examined its screen. "Holy _shit_ ," she gasped. "Is he… like, immortal?"

A solemn nod of confirmation prefaced Cinder's reply. "Our Lady seems to think so. We may have found the Wizard himself."


	18. Chapter 18

This time, Opher was ready for Pyrrha's morning check-up, and she didn't disappoint. His Scroll started ringing at 8:30 on the dot. "You're nothing if not punctual, huh?" he greeted with a smirk.

The redhead kicked off with the exact topic he thought she would. "You can't be serious about this whole… skirmish with Yang. I don't think Professor Ozpin would even allow it." A few silent seconds went by. "Also, good morning."

Opher found something in her words surprising; it seemed like she'd left the headmaster out of the loop for once. "Oh, you haven't told him yet?"

"I certainly plan to, assuming I can't talk you out of it first."

That put another smile on his face as he grabbed his hat off the dresser. "I'm gonna be on my way there shortly, actually, so I wouldn't waste my breath if I were you."

"Opher!"

He made odd faces in the mirror to examine the amount of stubble on his neck and cheeks. "You guys are awful nervous about me all of a sudden. What, you afraid I'm gonna break Yang?" he asked while doing a bit of fiery shaving. "It's just a test. I wanna know what I'm working with."

"Then ask for a demonstration! This isn't the way to do it!"

Little puffs of smoke wafted from his face as the hair burned away. He blew them aside before replying, "I'm not just testing _them_ , you know. I'm testing the school. I'm curious to see what kind of Hunters Beacon produces."

Pyrrha seemed to be getting more exasperated with everything he said. "Then, perhaps, you should challenge a fourth-year team! Or some graduates!"

"Oh, relax. It's gonna be fine." And yet, her tone had him curious. It felt like Ozpin wasn't the only man she was withholding information from. "Why are you so freaked out about this?"

"I'm not freaked out. It's just that… Yang hasn't bothered to keep her mouth shut about it and now the whole school knows."

Opher's head tilted curiously. "Then Ozpin must already know. Why hasn't he called me himself?"

Flustered became surprised when Pyrrha finally spoke again. "I… well, I'm not sure. He's a busy man. Perhaps he-"

"Glynda hasn't called me either, and I know she has my number. I'm pretty sure everyone there does." Finally satisfied with his appearance, Opher left the bedroom, snatched his gold coin off the kitchen counter, and proceeded out of the apartment. "Where's the rest of your team, by the way? Awful damn quiet wherever you are."

"They're all-" Pyrrha went quiet; a different, fainter voice came through. Opher guessed it was Nora.

And he was right. "Can I talk to him?" she said, much louder this time.

"Nora, no-"

Opher looked at his Scroll as the sounds of a scuffle leaked from its speakers. "Hey. Hey!" he snapped. "Stop that!"

An apparently victorious Nora replied, "Can I fight you too?"

"Nora Valkyrie!" Pyrrha gasped with exasperation. "You are not helping!"

Opher looked up and down the hallway, hesitating in case he heard another camera shutter going off. A minute passed with no such noise, so he headed for the stairwell. "Sure, why not? One at a time, though."

" _Opher_!" Pyrrha snapped.

"Hell," he began with a broadening smile, "Spread the word. I'll take on your whole damn Academy."

"You cannot be serious!"

He wasn't, really, but winding Pyrrha up like this had proven to be incredibly amusing. "I've got a whole week to myself before I have to go back to work and I'm bored. Besides, with all the shit that happened yesterday I've kinda got a taste for fighting again." That was the truth. Hiding so thoroughly for so many years had taken its toll on Opher, a cost that, he had to admit, went beyond boredom. It was nice to be in the sun again, however weird the circumstances were. He wondered how long the novelty would last, considering how quickly the press leaped on his story despite knowing so little.

"This-you-no!" was the best comeback Pyrrha could produce at first. After a few seconds of notably unsettled breathing, she added, "Just a moment. I think Professor Ozpin is calling me."

"Oh?" Opher paused on the sidewalk and looked at his Scroll. "Should I hang up?"

"I'll... call you back." And Pyrrha was gone.

Slightly uncertain, Opher pocketed the device and proceeded down the street. Amity Coliseum hung in the cyan sky off to his left; as he watched, the vague shapes of small airships docking with it became distinguishable. About four or five city blocks of worth of walking later, his Scroll began to ring again.

"I can't believe this," the redhead said flatly when he answered. "I really can't."

Her notably flustered tone had Opher even more unsure, but he played it cool until he could find out the reason. "You sound even more upset than before."

"The Professor is apparently fine with it."

"Uh… what?" Opher replied with surprise. "Why?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." A pregnant pause went by before she added, "I'm sure he must have a good reason?"

The awkwardness in her laugh told Opher that she didn't believe it. He, meanwhile, knew the headmaster was up to something but couldn't guess at what. "If he's gonna sign off on it, why don't _you_ fight me? You'd probably be the only challenge I get."

"There are plenty of people who could do that. I need to go get dressed. See you in a little while, I guess."

Once she'd hung up, Opher let himself linger on why Ozpin would allow this little sparring match to go ahead. No immediate possibility presented itself. "What are you up to, old man?" he wondered to himself as he looked at Beacon's distant tower. Then it hit him; Pyrrha hadn't actually denied his offer. His face went blank before a smile appeared. "Hmm."

* * *

The trip to that campus took place on a Bullhead, though in this instance it was packed full of soldiers destined for a deployment outside the wall. Indigo wasn't among them; lacking anyone familiar to chat with, he waited out the ride in silence. The craft landed just long enough for him to shuffle his way through and disembark. Once the pilots saw him leave, they took off straight away.

Opher discovered a bit of a welcoming committee as he walked away from the pad. It was no surprise that Teams RWBY and JNPR were present in their entirety, but Coco Adel stood with them as well. "Are you ready for this?" a grinning Yang shouted as he walked closer.

"Are you?" he fired back instantly. "What's going on here? We having a tournament before the tournament starts?"

"Professor Goodwitch says it's going to be like a combat class, but optional," Weiss explained. "You've got a few volunteers. I'm not sure how many of them heard about it from Yang."

"I don't think it was all her fault," he said, eying Coco as he passed her by.

"What, you worried about backing up your talk, little man?" she countered while adjusting her beret.

Her bravado was entirely false; Opher sensed it in the way she spoke. Given what she'd seen, it wasn't much of a surprise. Pyrrha and Yang, on the other hand, seemed to be doing a far better job of hiding their anxieties. "Hey, uh, Yang lost a fight on the train yesterday, so," Ruby murmured to him as the gaggle proceeded toward campus. "If she starts losing and gets mad, don't worry about her hair catching on fire and stuff."

Opher cracked a smile at this. "I can't honestly remember the last time I was afraid of fire."

Ruby's head tilted in confusion. "Oh, that's go-uh, what?"

"Never mind," he mumbled, scratching under his hat as he looked away.

Students of all descriptions heralded their arrival with muttered gossip and Scrolls brandished to take pictures. Team JNPR seemed to be getting as much attention as Opher, a fact for which he was silently thankful. Yang led the group toward the amphitheater with a beaming smile. While they walked, Opher decided to sneak a look over at Blake. She refused to meet his eyes and stared forward.

Inside the building awaited a smaller crowd, scattered haphazardly through the bleachers. Among their number, to Opher's surprise, sat Emerald. Like Blake, however, she refused to make eye contact. He smirked a bit and surveyed the crowd. Individuality had certainly won the war, for whatever it would be worth when these children met the cold reality of the outside world. Even those wearing the same school uniform had some sort of distinguishing mark or hairstyle to set them apart from their peers. Opher smirked to himself; perhaps Ozpin had agreed to this to prove a point about how such colorful characters made Remnant a better place.

Pyrrha caught Opher's contemplative frown and moved over to him. "I don't think they're _all_ here to challenge you. We might be here for a while otherwise."

"You don't know how fast I can work." Opher glanced back as Glynda Goodwitch made her way inside. "While I'm here, you want a rematch?"

She regarded him with a mild glower. "Don't be ridiculous. Students!" she said loudly, "Please take your seats." When she addressed Opher again, her voice was much lower. "I need to speak with you for a moment."

"Fine." He followed her to an area to the side the stage where they were out of sight for most of the audience. "What's up?"

"Professor Ozpin does not want you to hold back," she stated grimly, "but he also wants you to avoid killing anyone in the process. Please do not…" Her face screwed up suddenly. "...explode. Literally, or figuratively."

"Ha!" Opher shook his head with amusement. "Don't worry. Who gets me first?"

"It's your decision." She held out her gray Scroll. "Place your thumb on the red box, please."

He did as asked; the crowd let out a few excited noises as his face appeared on one of the electronic screens hovering above the stage. Below his stoic mask was a horizontal green bar. "Oh, man, my passport picture looks terrible," he lamented with a sigh.

Glynda left him to scowl at his photo and moved to the center of the stage. "Attention! Attention, please." She adjusted her glasses until the students fell silent. "As you may have guessed, this will not be a normal combat class. A Huntsman from Atlas-" A few cheers from the gray-uniformed section of the audience forced her to hesitate, "-has agreed to demonstrate some of his techniques for us today. Mister Riese?"

He hopped up the steps when she motioned to him and walked over. Before he could even think of anything to say, however, Glynda interjected again. "Before any of you ask, yes, he was the Huntsman with Team JNPR during the incident yesterday. No, you cannot take a picture with him or have his autograph, nor may you ask any members of JNPR for the same. Are we clear?" The gathering's extremely reluctant agreement caused Glynda to squint a bit. "Good. Would you like to say anything before we begin?"

"Yeah," Opher said loudly. "You better give me your best. Yang, get your ass down here."

With a hoot of joy, Yang left her teammates and hurled herself over the translucent green barrier that ringed the bleacher sections. She landed in a crouch in front of the stage, strutting up the steps as Glynda walked down them. A few seconds later, her image and Aura gauge appeared on the other large screen.

Opher glanced at Ember Celica as the weapons unpacked themselves to full size around her wrists. "You buy that ammo from Indigo?"

Yang, bouncing on her feet, shadow boxed to warm up. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Let's see if it was worth what you paid." He subtly crouched into a martial stance and beckoned her with a grin. "Come on."

She matched his smile as her fists went up; an instant more saw her closing the distance between them with legs driving hard. Her first attack was a straight left directly at his head, but Opher easily kicked himself to the side and out of harm's way. Yang, anticipating his move, started to spin. That momentum turned into a right cross, but her knuckles only grazed his orange shirt as he jumped away. The cycle began again: a straight punch that missed due to Opher's sidestep, then another cross that forced him directly backward.

Yang realized that every fist she threw missed by an inch or less. Fearing another embarrassment in the making, one in front of her sister and team, no less, she began to lose her cool. "Stop running!" she demanded between breaths.

"You really want to brute force this shit?" he asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "One free shot." A hand went to his chest. "Right here. Pull the trigger or not, it's up to you."

"I'm not falling for-" Yang went silent as he patted his chest again. "Screw it." A mighty roar exploded from her mouth as she charged him down, right fist plunging forward as she drew close. Yang triggered Ember Celica by accident on contact. Her face pointed at the floor due to the attack; she assumed, therefore, that she'd blasted him right in the chest. "Damn, I didn't-" And then she looked up.

Yang hadn't hit his chest at all. Opher had stopped her strike cold with the back of his hand. "One of the nice things about Aura," he said to the crowd, "is that it acts on a subconscious level most of the time. But with the right training, you can block stuff like this through sheer focus."

"No way," Yang breathed as she stepped back. She raised her fists again, however, and tried to find a silver lining. "At least I _hit_ you."

"That you did." Opher assumed his fighting stance once more. "Come hit me again."

When Yang's fists flew at him this time, each punch resulted in contact. Unfortunately, all she managed to strike were his palms. Opher grabbed each of her blows, only letting go when she drew back her hands. Despite apparently being on the defensive, no amount of attacking could drive him back now. Opher gave up nary a step in the face of her furious assault. When she tried an uppercut and he still managed to catch it, Yang finally succumbed to her anger.

"So that's what Ruby meant," he noted as her hair began to glow and spark with flame. "I guess she wasn't joking about the fire."

"Why am I doing all the fighting, huh?" a red-eyed Yang said as she tried to bait him into some offense. "Your turn. Come on. Free shot."

"Really? If you insist on dying in front of your sister, fine." Opher's bluntness registered as bluffing, if Yang's smile was anything to go by. He didn't know the fine details of her Semblance, but if she were asking for violence, it probably wasn't in his best interest to comply. Opher suddenly had an idea. "All right, you asked for it."

Yang's smile grew as he sprinted forward with his left hand balled up. Her entire body tensed in preparation for impact. Wind from her back blew her hair forward, obscuring some of her view. "What's-" she gasped, losing some of her focus just before Opher's fist arrived.

He never actually touched her. His knuckles stopped just short of the tip of her nose, but a thunderous crack erupted behind her as a mixture of wind, fire, and lightning Dust swirled into a brilliant golden cloud. All the wind that had rushed toward Opher slashed in the opposite direction an instant later, blowing her hair back and forcing her to stumble. The spectacle startled her so much that Yang dropped out of her Semblance entirely.

As she lowered her arms, Opher stepped away and addressed the crowd again. "I know a lot of you focus Aura through your weapons," he stated while getting his hat to sit straight, "but you've probably noticed I don't carry one."

"Wh-what just happened?" a gobsmacked Yang said quietly.

Opher glanced her way, but continued talking. "Even if you're empty-handed, you _always_ have a weapon to fight with. Learn how to use it." His eyes scanned the attentive crowd; Emerald again shirked his attention, which made him smile, but another swarthy girl appeared to be all ears. "I think I know you from somewhere," he said while pointing at her. "Stand up."

She obeyed and bowed her head slightly. "I purchased Dust from your shop a few days ago. My name is Arslan."

Opher nodded once before examining her person. "No weapons?"

"Yes, sir." She dangled a dagger from her left hand. "Though the bulk of my combat expertise is in hand-to-hand fighting."

"I like you already. Tell me, who do you think won?" he asked, waving between himself and a still-dumbfounded Yang.

Her olive eyes widened a bit. "You did, obviously."

"Okay." Opher pointed up to the screens above him. "Now look at those and tell me who won." Arslan did just that, as did the rest of the audience, only to find that neither combatant's Aura gauge had moved at all. A confused murmur seized the crowd before Opher spoke up again. "Yeah, see, the machines say we're tied. Look, weapons are great and all, but you can only trust technology so far. That's why I'm telling you, if you don't know hand-to-hand fighting skills, you better learn them while you can. It doesn't matter what kind of weapons you've got."

"Wait a second!" a freshly-incensed Yang shouted. "You didn't scratch me! Come on, this fight hasn't even started yet. Let's go."

"I mean, we could," he said, turning to face her. "But knowing what you do now, what do you think you'd accomplish?"

"I-" Yang had been pointing at him, but her arm began to drop. "I mean, I…" Then her face softened with resignation. "Fuck me, man."

Glynda corrected her instantly. "Language, Miss Xiao Long."

Sensing the blonde's disappointment, Opher extended his own hand until she reluctantly decided to shake it. "You know what the best fighting technique is? Knowing when to stop."

Yang managed to find her smile again. "Eh. I was goin' easy on you."

"I'm sure you were. By the way," he said lowly with a smirk. "You broke every bone in both of my hands."

"Hold up, what?!" she exclaimed with shock. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. My Aura already took care of it."

"But…" Yang's eyes went up to Opher's full Aura gauge. "I… guess I better give somebody else a shot."

"That's not a bad idea." He watched her depart the stage for a moment before looking into the audience. "So, who's next?" Unsurprisingly, nobody seemed willing to challenge him, but Opher kept up his silent pressure regardless. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a hand shoot up. "Oh, there we go." On further inspection, he found it was Pyrrha doing the volunteering. " _Really_?" Opher said with mild surprise.

Her bright green eyes were like iron. "I want the challenge."

A nervous-looking Jaune gave Pyrrha's red sarong a few tugs to get her attention. "You sure about this?"

"Yes," she replied, her gaze never leaving Opher.

Some oddly frantic screen-tapping from Glynda distracted him for a moment, but Opher watched the redhead make her way out of the stands and stride toward him. Once she arrived, he asked, "What's going on here? I didn't think you'd actually take me up on the offer to fight."

There was an oddly hollow quality about her smile. "I already told you. I want the challenge."

Opher squinted at her curiously. It sure felt like he was missing something, but after a moment's thought he decided it could wait. "All right."

"I won't hold back," Pyrrha warned him. As her weapon took its shortsword form, she raised her shield and coiled up in preparation to strike. He didn't bother to do anything but stand there and stare at her. "I'm serious!"

A smile appeared on his face. "Show me how serious you are."

The redhead powered toward him with a clattering of armor. The swing of her blade was a feint; she expected him to dodge to the side. When he did just that, she lashed out with the glimmering edge of her shield. Opher used a minor wind assist to topple himself into a side somersault. When his palms contacted the flat front of her shield, he sprung off it and landed behind her.

Pyrrha carried her whirling momentum onward, converting the energy into another sweeping sword attack. The tip of her blade caught Opher's shirt and tore a ragged hole. "Damn you!" he snapped, dancing away from Pyrrha's next attempt to whack him with her shield.

She replied only with a faint grin and charged again, determined to keep him on his heels. A rapid-fire series of quick, short jabs forced Opher to continuously change directions in order to dodge; when she was sure his focus was on her sword, she thrust the face of her shield at his head all all her might. It hit something and stopped cold. Her arm trembled as she kept trying to drive it forward, but her shield moved no more. She glanced down and noticed the sheet of ice under her feet too late to act.

Opher launched her backwards with a mighty rush of wind; she slid until her boots caught on the floor where the ice ended and tumbled awkwardly the rest of the way. "Are you _seriously_ trying to kill me?" he asked, closing the distance as she gathered up her weaponry.

"I warned you," was all she said as her sword twisted and unfurled into a spear. It emitted a loud crack and a plume of smoke as she threw it at him.

Despite its speed, Opher weaved enough of a breeze to deflect it to the side and snatch it out of the air. "At my head!" he said approvingly. "God, you even fight like she did. Carmine didn't know the meaning of the phrase 'friendly spar'." Invisible tugging on the weapon startled him, but he tightened his hold when he realized it was Pyrrha using her Semblance to try and get it back. "Oh, where are my manners. Here… catch."

Pyrrha readied herself to pull down his return throw, but Opher put so much wind behind the spear that it streaked past as a barely-detectable blur. Its velocity was so high that its tip jammed into the stage floor with a metallic shriek and explosion of sparks. The redhead looked back at it with wide-eyed shock. "How did you-" Her voice failed when she felt a warm liquid on her right cheek. She touched it and found blood on her fingertips.

As Opher strode toward her, Pyrrha attempted to retrieve her weapon via polarity. It was stuck fast; she had to abandon using her Semblance and make a dash for it. Her right ankle caught on something and yanked her down; she looked to see a manacle of ice that had her stuck to the floor. When she kicked at it with her free leg, another one nailed both of them to the stage.

Opher froze the rest of Pyrrha's limbs to the floor with flourishes of his arms, leaving the redhead in an awkward, mostly-lying position with her face up toward the ceiling. He loomed over her, watching her struggle with an unreadable expression. "And this," he began lowly, placing the index and middle finger of his left hand on the center of her forehead, "is the part where I'd drill a hole through your skull with a jet of fire." Abruptly, he straightened up and grinned. "Good thing this isn't a real fight, huh?"

Pyrrha went still as she tried to process that the battle was actually over. The first words she uttered were, "I'm sorry about your shirt."

"I'm sure you're good for the Lien." Opher kicked at her icy bonds in turn, shattering each until the redhead was free. "Got awfully quiet in here!" he yelled to the awkwardly silent crowd. A quick scan of their faces revealed a spectrum of emotions that ranged from Weiss' quiet gawking to the the rest of Team JNPR's wide-eyed shock. He also noted Emerald staring holes into him; he neither knew nor cared why. His gaze wandered up to the scoring screens. Pyrrha's gauge remained in the green, but was no longer full. "So, you done trying to murder me?" he asked her with a smirk.

"I think you've made your point," the redhead said. With a mighty grunt, she finally wrenched free her spear.

Opher cracked another smile and turned back to the audience. "Okay, everyone breathe for a second. Remember this feeling; it's what real fighting will do to you. You better get used to it fast."

Weiss stood up, visibly flustered. "How do you summon Dust structures out of nowhere?!"

"By thinking," he replied with a shrug. "It's not that hard."

The heiress refused to buy it and crossed her arms. "Are you really telling me you can _imagine_ up those constructions? Don't be ridiculous."

"Just because you can't doesn't mean nobody else can."

Weiss froze with the sting of his insult, unable to retort or even sit down. "Yeeeowch," Yang whispered sympathetically, giving her a few pats on the back.

"Arsie can do it too!" a chipper girl interrupted. "It's really cool."

The assembly looked toward that voice; Reese, waving her hand and sitting next to Arslan, only beamed more with their attention. "Hey, hey," she nudged her partner, "Show 'em!"

"I can't do what _he_ does," Arslan replied sheepishly, withdrawing under all the scrutiny.

Opher's interest was suddenly piqued. "Come on down here," he called. "I wanna see this." While a reluctant Arslan obeyed, he walked over to Pyrrha, who still lingered on stage. "You heal fast," he muttered, noting the state of her cut.

"I figured I couldn't hurt you," she blurted out quietly. "That's why I didn't hold back. I wanted to know what it was like to not care about the opponent's well-being for once."

He nodded subtly. "I got it. What do you think?"

The redhead's brow furrowed. "I'm… I'm not sure how much I like it, to be completely honest."

"Not everyone does." Opher nodded toward Pyrrha's team as Arslan arrived. "You'd better go check on Jaune. He looks a little lightheaded."

She emitted a weak laugh and left the stage. Opher's attention went to the swarthy brawler. "What was your friend talking about?"

"Oh, this." With her right hand, Arslan produced a reddish fireball and gently tossed it his way. It bounced until Opher caught it and began to juggle it idly. "How…?" she murmured curiously.

Opher deciphered the mechanism the second her flame came into contact with his own essence; Arslan's fires had a shred of her Aura at their core. "I got it now. You project shards of your soul. Neat." He stopped juggling the flame and held it up for the crowd. "Consider this: how much damage do you think you could do if you hit someone with your Aura?" Opher crushed out the fire by clenching his fingers; he opened them again to allow the Aura to invisibly return to its owner. "That hurt, didn't it?" he said to a startled Arslan.

"It didn't feel very nice, no," she confirmed. "Like a deep pinprick… here." She pointed to her left kneecap.

"Hmm." Opher generated his own fireball, though this one was blue and much larger. He fired it toward the back of the amphitheater at high speed. Before striking the barrier around the stands, it curved up and away and began a wild dance all over the amphitheater. "Aura as a projectile. How many of you have heard of that before?" he asked. Only a few hands went up, Reese and Arslan's included.

Emerald lost track of the conversation because it felt like someone was driving a chisel into her brain. For the entire time she'd been here, the thief had been trying to use her Semblance on Opher to no effect; the only result had been her own misery. But she had learned something: it wasn't that her power seemed to be splitting between targets. Something actively interfered with it and caused terrible feedback in her mind, which in turn produced the shattering headache that had her hunched over with anguish.

Cinder, tucked away in the upper rows and mostly out of sight, caught her eye. Emerald decided to text her mistress and ask for relief. _No good. I feel like I'm gonna pass out._ She looked at her with pleading red eyes.

A nod at Emerald, then at the door, was Cinder's answer. Her eyes tracked the miserable girl's retreat until losing sight of her as she went outside. Only then did she send a message. _Perhaps some reading will ease your mind._ Her attention returned to Opher, but not his words. She simply watched him yank the fireball around in a dizzying pattern, as if it were attached to an unseen leash. If her Scroll weren't out of storage after recording his fights, she'd have shot this too. Instead, she settled for committing the scene to memory in silence.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Ozpin's office, James Ironwood and the headmaster himself had been watching Opher's impromptu lessons, skirmishes included. The General summed up his thoughts in two words. "She's strong."

"Pyrrha Nikos?" Ozpin glanced up as his friend nodded. "Yes. From a physical standpoint, her ability is unquestionable. I do wonder why she seemed intent on injuring Opher."

Ironwood took a brief sip from his flask before responding. "That's a good sign, isn't it? No fear in the face of hopeless odds. A willingness to defend herself to the last."

Ozpin wasn't fully buying into that just yet. "And a face full of regret after the fight ended."

"The Nikos family's turned into a bunch of trophy fighters in recent generations. She just needs time to get used to the idea of becoming a killer." No longer interested in the feed, Ironwood stood up and walked away from the headmaster's desk. "If only we _had_ any time." He decided the time had come to address the elephant in the room. "Have you seen the archive's report about Opher Riese yet?"

"Hmm." Ozpin took up his Scroll and tapped the power button. His eyes darted from side to side as he took in the words on its screen. Accompanying these were images of excerpts from paper texts with translations as captions where required. Ozpin noted something after skimming the information. "I was correct about his tattoos. That seems to be the most prolific descriptor."

"Have you noticed the gaps in the sightings?" Ironwood waited for a nod of confirmation before adding, "And how many times it's been a Maiden that sees him first when he decides to make contact again?"

"In battle, no less." Ozpin fixated on one account from a Maiden's own hand. "'He emerged from the mountains as if on the wings of a hurricane; I could not stop his assault no matter how much of the gift I leveraged'. A direct quote lifted from the personal journal of Carmine Tanager."

It was the second time he'd heard this, but Ironwood's brow furrowed anyway. "Lady Tanager was one of the most fearsome Maidens of Spring that Mantle ever hosted. If Opher Riese was that powerful nine hundred years ago, how strong do you think he is _now_?"

"I dare not even ask." Ozpin left the report aside to do a bit of his own research. "Lady Tanager's journals have given us a considerable amount of insight before. Perhaps they will again."

"The archivists are still too busy searching for the first verifiable sighting. They haven't-" Ironwood noticed the headmaster's silent concentration. "I know that look," he said with a grin. "We've have people to do research for us, you know."

Ozpin smiled to himself as he read. "You might leave the library, but the library never leaves you." His brow furrowed abruptly. "Did Lady Tanager not have a companion?"

Ironwood thought about another sip from his flask, but elected for coffee instead. "A man she met after her expedition to the Kasserine Pass, if I remember right. Why?"

"She fought Opher _during_ that expedition."

"Yes. You don't think…" Ironwood set his mug down and looked off in thought. "It couldn't be."

Ozpin was already well on his way to finding out. Five or six silent minutes drifted by before he spoke again. "Lady Tanager writes of him often, but so far I've not seen a single mention of any tattoos or markings." He saw the General slump with relief, but his own uncertainty continued to build. "There's a pattern here, James. Look at the archive reports. Kasserine Pass has claimed dozens of expeditions."

Ironwood had a copy of the report open on his own Scroll. "Are you saying he's the source of the story?" A wry smirk bent his lips. "Another fairy tale come true. Of course." Something else in the document steered him away from this conclusion. "We know he settled in Vacuo just before the war began. If he were protecting the area, why did he leave the continent altogether?"

The headmaster regarded him thoughtfully. "He kept killing until people stopped coming. I suppose he thought his message had finally been sent." After some further reading, Ozpin's eyes lit up with a realization. "Why does he disappear from Vacuo in the middle of the war?"

"They haven't had time to dig that deeply yet." And yet the look on Ozpin's face said he already had the answer. Ironwood lowered his Scroll and walked over. "What are you thinking?"

"What lies at the southern opening of Kasserine Pass?"

The tone said his question was clearly rhetorical; Ironwood raised a brow as he wondered why the local geography had become important. "Cape Nadir, the southernmost-" His jaw dropped open as Ozpin's implication became clear. "You're not saying Riese… two _divisions_ were lost in that campaign!"

"And not a single soldier made it back." Ozpin stood up and started to walk around the perimeter of the office. "I wonder what it is in that valley that Mister Riese is so keen on protecting, or why he felt it safe enough to leave Mantle aga-" A chime interrupted him; his Scroll had received a message. Its contents made his expression soften with horror. "James. Read this."

"What is it?" Ironwood took the device and skimmed over the message. "No. Is this verified information?" he asked. The dire gleam in Ozpin's eyes was all the confirmation he needed. He and Ozpin looked back at the floating screen of light above the desk, where Opher appeared to be wrapping up his stay in the amphitheater. "And he knows the truth… damn! What do we do?"

"You will place your troops on an elevated alert and wait for me to contact you," Ozpin said as he made for the elevator on purposeful strides.

A confused Ironwood caught up with him halfway there. "Are you expecting a fight? I should tag along, then."

The headmaster stepped into the car, tapped the keypad, and regarded the General with a grim frown as he joined him in the car. "Absolutely not. You saw the names on that list, James. Only one of us can stand up to him, and with all due respect, it is not you."

"Do you expect me to just sit here and do nothing?" Ironwood replied fiercely.

"If all goes well, nothing will _need_ to be done." Ozpin examined his cane with a frown. "And if it doesn't, it will be up to you to hold this kingdom together."


	19. Chapter 19

Students were still filtering out of the stands as Ozpin appeared in the amphitheater's rear entrance. Opher remained on stage alone, eying the tear in his shirt that Pyrrha had left with no small amount of annoyance. The headmaster waited for the audience to clear, but a few people lingered in the bleachers, Teams RWBY and JNPR among them. Ozpin quickly grew tired of waiting them out and started to move.

Opher glanced up as he drew near. "Oh, good. I wanted to talk to you about this," he said, pointing at his damaged clothing. The breathtaking seriousness in Ozpin's eyes alerted him to a bigger issue, but he finished his quipping anyway. "Somebody owes me some Lien."

"Hmm." Ozpin stood mere feet away now, but he addressed the small, persistent crowd first. "Hurry along please, students. I'm sure many of you have classes to attend." While this got most of them out, Team JNPR seemed to be in no rush to go anywhere. The way they were all clustered around a seated Pyrrha told him why. "Miss Nikos, is something the matter?"

"I'm trying to fix Milo," she called politely. "It's a little… bent."

"Then I suggest you visit the armory." Ozpin watched as they at last moved through the bleachers and out of sight. Another check of the stands revealed an empty hall save for himself, Glynda, and Opher.

"What's happening?" Glynda asked. She stood with the headmaster and glanced at Opher. Ozpin showed her the message on his Scroll. "What's this?"

"Hey, don't leave me hanging," Opher interjected, his thumbs hooked in his pockets. "Am I in trouble? I feel like I'm in trouble." Glynda's shocked reaction only affirmed this; he doffed his hat and engaged in a staring match with Ozpin. "You let me do all this," he said, sweeping his arm around, "so I'd be on campus, didn't you?"

"That was part of the plan, yes," he admitted. "Though I didn't think our research would yield such troubling information."

At last it was Opher's turn to see the message: a list of events and dates, some with names, some not. Arranged in chronological order, the earliest entries also had images of absolutely ancient-looking text. "Wow, you guys work fast," he remarked evenly.

Ozpin turned off the device and took it away. "You have been attacking Maidens for centuries, Mister Riese."

Opher hadn't bet on them finding out so quickly, but he kept his gaze flat and cold. "Yeah, I have." He glanced over as a wary Glynda gripped her riding crop. "So what?"

Subtle tension stiffened Ozpin's form. "That would make you the enemy, unless you can explain-"

"I was hoping they'd be strong enough to kill me."

And that threw the headmaster off course. "I beg your pardon?"

"I was tired then, too. I figured, who better to finally put me out of my misery than the only other undying souls on Remnant?" Opher said around a bitter smirk. "I mean, that I knew of."

"That's your reason?" Glynda snarled. "How _selfish_ can you-"

He would have none of her criticism. "Oh, shut up. When you've lived a hundred lifetimes watching everyone around you shrivel up and die, you can talk down to my ass all day long." Opher returned his eyes to Ozpin. "All those women were to me was a way out, until I met…"

"Lady Tanager," Ozpin concluded for him. After a bit of staring, he added, "What happened to her?"

"I didn't, if that's what you think." Opher looked away while rubbing his neck and sighed. When he faced them again, he tugged the brim of hat down to keep his eyes hidden. "I never figured out what happened to her on that last expedition."

"I see." He looked over at a still-agitated Glynda. "Would you give us a moment?"

"Are you sure?" Despite his nod of assurance, it took her a few extra seconds to tear her distrustful gaze from Opher and walk away.

Both men watched her leave before Ozpin took up the conversation again. "You're a strange man. On the one hand, you did this," he said, nodding to the Scroll, "and on the other, you risked your life to save Vale." His features softened in thought. "Or did you risk your life?"

Opher, eyes still hidden, shrugged at the question. "I don't remember the last time I honestly thought my life was in any danger."

The headmaster tapped his cane on the stage and looked off. "We are living bridges to the past, Mister Riese. Our knowledge should be used to ensure humanity's future." His platitude had no visible effect on Opher; the lack of reaction forced a scowl. "Do you not agree?"

"I don't think humanity's future needs much ensuring," was his delayed response. "After all, they've got Dust now. When I learned to fight, we didn't _have_ the Schnee family to give us shiny rocks."

Ozpin slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "In the days when humans survived on the sheer force of their will alone? I don't believe you. It seems you use Dust for _everything_."

"Yeah, to blend in." Opher snapped his left arm to the side. From his closed fist emerged a sword-like structure of illuminated gray Aura; it eventually grew to the same length as his outstretched limb. "People used to call it magic. Then they found something close enough in the ground and the word lost its meaning."

"You are not the only one who learned those arts." When Ozpin tapped his cane against the floor this time, a translucent green sphere surrounded him. Opher made a motion to strike it with his ghostly sword but hesitated; Ozpin smirked faintly at his halting motion. "By all means, try me."

Opher obliged him, bringing down his ethereal blade in a swift overhead arc. Both men winced faintly with the impact, but neither weapon nor shield budged an inch. As Opher pressed, his blade slid along the bubble of Aura. The friction between their souls emitted a warbling screech that made the screens above flicker. "You're pretty stout for an Academy bureaucrat," he admitted through gritted teeth.

"Do not insult me." In one motion, so fast it appeared as a blur to Opher's eyes, Ozpin dropped his shield and lashed out with his cane. It met the grayish blade and stopped. Despite the incredible concentration on their faces, the standoff devolved into a stalemate again. "What are you doing in my kingdom?" the headmaster asked.

"I _was_ on vacation," he hissed. He spun quickly, slashing his blade around, but the headmaster's cane stopped it again. "So much for that, huh?"

Ozpin's eyes became slits as he tried to shove Opher's weapon aside. "If you plan on getting involved-"

With a strained smile, Opher tried to do the same but couldn't. "Plan on it? Looks like I'm stuck with it."

Ozpin attempted to break the clash once more himself with no effect. Opher broke it for him with another attack, which the headmaster easily deflected. Both lashed out and were stopped several more times, neither man proving able to impose his will on the other while holding back to avoid destroying their surroundings. As before, they ended up sword-to-cane, mired in a stalemate. "You have our gratitude for your role in protecting Vale," Ozpin said evenly, "but until your history is fully determined, stay off of my campus."

"Suits me just fine." Opher dismissed his ghostly blade and donned his hat, walking away without another word.

* * *

He got all the way to the edge of campus before allowing himself to think on their encounter. Ozpin was at _least_ as strong as him, a good sign for his potential plan B. And with him being banned from Beacon's campus, all Opher had to do was wait on Cinder to move forward. The more he thought on it, the more he realized that was his only course of action anyway. If Ozpin knew where the Maidens were, there would be no way he'd let Opher get anywhere near them now.

There was another problem: he still didn't know _how_ the headmaster attained his immortality. The spherical Aura shield he'd seen was another clue to his age, however. It still had color. After checking for the presence of witnesses, Opher summoned his own shield bubble for comparison. While it shone a silvery gray like all the other constructs hewn from his Aura, the color could only be seen at its apparent edges. The rest of the sphere was almost entirely transparent. He dismissed it a second later and kept walking. "I oughta start calling him 'boy'," he muttered to himself with a smirk.

Opher strode on through the quiet campus until he reached the empty airship pads. He'd assumed Ozpin would have a ride ready and waiting for him, but after two or three minutes of waiting on one with no luck, the lanky Hunter grew bored. He walked to the edge of one pad and looked down at the waterfall and lake hundreds of feet below. After a brief look back at the empty path, Opher simply walked off into the void and dropped like a stone. Instead of plunging into the water, he came to a wind-aided, floating stop above its surface. After setting up a sheet of ice to land on, he skated toward Vale, creating a frozen path as he went. Between him and the city stood a thick forest of broad-leafed trees. Prowling Beowolves were visible before he even neared the shore; once he stepped onto the sand, however, both parties basically ignored each other and went their separate ways.

For Opher, this meant a dive into the wilderness. The solitude reminded him of home, though far less cold and snowy; rustling leaves and birdsong filled the air around him. There existed a peace here that no city, not even isolated Vacuo, could match. "Man, I shoulda stayed in the graveyard," he sighed to himself, despite knowing it was wishful thinking. Since the very top of Beacon's tower was still visible in short spurts through the canopy, he decided to see if his Scroll actually had a signal. It didn't. Opher was as alone as anyone in modern-day Remnant could get.

Except he wasn't. The pleasant breeze carried with it the sound of not-too-distant voices. Curious, Opher weaved his way through the tree trunks to try and find their sources. Before too long, the wind-driven whispers became shouts; an argument was clearly underway, but Opher had no idea about what. Only when he rounded a particularly large and gnarly tree did people come into view.

Clad in the drab olive uniforms of Vale's Army, a tall, dark-skinned, slate-haired man and a pale woman with shockingly pink hair stood embroiled in a fierce altercation. Opher noticed a sniper rifle strapped to the male soldier's back. "Are you kidding me?!" she shouted at him. "I'm the only one in this unit that gets anything _done_! Maybe the Lieutenant Colonel should get off her ass and do something about the stuff I bring up in my reports!"

"Why do you think I'm here?" the man replied with an even and professional tone. "With all due respect, Captain, the morale of your unit is a problem. Your soldiers enter a sector and leave more Grimm than when they arrived."

"Because Central Command keeps sticking me with useless idiots!" she shrieked, stabbing a finger into his chest. "I can't train the stupid out of these people!"

The sniper maintained his incredible calm despite that contact. "Ma'am, please get a hold of yourself."

"Fuck off! If had competent soldiers, I'd be the goddamn battalion commander by now, not her!"

Opher saw the effect of her tirade first. A pair of Ursae, sensing the Captain's rage, were making their way through the trees. Beowolves and even a young Griffon were on their tails. He turned back to the soldiers just in time to see the Captain storming off. She didn't get far before the sniper drew his sidearm and put a bullet in the back of her skull. Opher's brows raised with surprise.

"The Colonel is ten times the officer you ever would have been," he said to her corpse. He produced a Scroll and began tapping on it quietly. In the meantime, the Grimm, no longer sensing his victim's bitter emotions, slowed their advance and began to disperse.

Opher chose that moment to make his presence known. "Nice shot," he called. As expected, the sniper drew his pistol again and aimed it at him. "Oh dear. Is it my turn?" he asked with a smirk.

"You weren't supposed to see that." Before the sniper could pull the trigger, however, Opher's visage struck him as familiar. "I've seen you on the news."

"Does that get me off the hook?" He glanced at the dead Captain's body and tilted his head. "'Cause-" The sniper interrupted him by firing; Opher deflected the shot with a precise burst of air and smiled. "Never mind, I guess not." He smirked a little more as the soldier exchanged his pistol for his sniper rifle. "Trust me, you didn't bring a gun big enough to win this fight."

"Who are you?" the sniper asked, backing away slowly.

He hesitated for a moment before going with his standard lie. "Ah, I'm just a shopkeeper." Opher suddenly noticed thin white rings on the weapon's barrel and blinked. "Hey, Indigo has a gun like that." Something else became apparent as he gazed at them; there were far fewer on this rifle than Indigo had on hers.

The sniper lowered his rifle slightly. "Indigo? Indigo Stahl?"

"Yeah." Opher cocked his head a bit. "I work for her. You two know each other?"

"I…" The sniper put away his rifle, turned, and started to walk off. "I apologize for the overreaction. Please keep this exchange quiet."

A dumbfounded Opher watched him disappear between the tree trunks and wondered what exactly had just happened. "If that's the kind of reaction I get for name-dropping her, she must be holding back some pretty good war stories." He gazed off in thought. The remark about who put the marks on Indigo's rifle popped up in his head. With a cursory glance in the direction of Beacon, Opher proceeded through the woods, checking the time on his Scroll as he went. With nothing else to do, he decided to deliver Indigo's weapon to her personally. Perhaps she'd have some answer for what had just happened.

* * *

It took Opher nearly as much time to figure out where Indigo had been posted as it did for him to get back to Vale in the first place. Like so many of the city's buildings, this particular Army facility was tall and gray, its front facade held up by six columns. A Valesian flag, as long as he was tall, fluttered in the stiff breeze. Soldiers came and went as he sat and waited; some were interested in him or the assault rifle at his side, but none approached. The two guards posted at the entrance eyed him frequently.

At exactly six o'clock, the glass double doors flew open. Indigo stumbled out with an exaggerated groan. While she was in uniform, it wasn't the olive-colored field dress he'd seen before. Consisting of a gray blazer, white blouse, and a gray, knee-length pencil skirt, Opher thought it made her look quite businesslike. The expression on her face was anything but; why she seemed so annoyed, Opher couldn't say, but whatever it was had her so preoccupied she walked right past him. "Hello to you too," he greeted.

After she jumped with surprise and turned around, they regarded each other for a second in silence. When she noticed the weapon at his side, her face softened with gratitude. "Ah, man, you didn't have to bring it out here. I would've come and get it."

"Eh, I needed the exercise," he replied with a shrug and a smile.

Indigo took the rifle and gave it a once over as Opher stood. "Looks like it held up pretty good." Her eyes went up to his; the thoughtful glimmer she found piqued her interest. She decided to ply him with small talk. "How did it go with whatever you and Yang were up to?"

They began to walk with Indigo slightly in the lead. "Oh, she tried _very_ hard to kick my ass," he said, a snicker escaping in the process. "She even used your ammunition on me."

"Good, that means she'll have to buy more." Indigo tugged at the red ribbon around her neck. "I'd say you look pretty good for having been in a fight with her, but I'm not even surprised anymore. Did you find out what you wanted?"

Opher thought briefly about the whole affair and answered earnestly. "Yes and no. Pyrrha fought me right afterward, but the rest of Yang's team wasn't interested."

" _Pyrrha_ fought you? Oh god." Indigo flipped open her Scroll and stared at it for a second. "Nothing in the news, so I guess that went well?"

"Please, she's fine." Opher glanced down at his blue shirt and frowned. "I mean, she cost me a shirt, but not much else happened, really."

"Huh." They'd reached the gate separating the post from the street; beyond it were a few reporters waiting to pounce on Indigo's presence. All their eyes lit up with glee when they saw Opher as well. "Fuck. I don't wanna deal with this shit. Let's go…" She trailed off, nodding toward the building.

"Right." Opher followed her to the post and around its left side. Here was another, more heavily guarded exit. The sentries took one look at her and opened the gate for them both. "Well, that was easy."

"I was stationed here for a little while before my discharge." Indigo hung the assault rifle on her shoulder and walked quickly. "They know how I am."

Her wording made Opher curious. "Are you holding out on me?" He pointed at her sizable ribbon rack when she looked over in confusion. "I didn't even know you were _in_ the Army before you brought that gun to work. You must have some stories to tell."

"Well…" she trailed off, suddenly awkward.

This didn't deter him, though he did spend a few extra seconds on phrasing his next statement. "I ask because I think I ran into one of your friends on my way back from Beacon."

It worked. A confused Indigo came to a stop and stared up at him. "Uh, what?"

Opher walked past her for a few steps before facing her again. "He had a sniper rifle like yours. Kill marks and everything. I mentioned your name and he acted kind of strange."

The lack of detail was beginning to irritate her. "What do you mean _strange_?" she asked through a scowl.

A neat way of framing the exchange escaped him; being in public meant Opher was unwilling to come right out with it. After a few uneasy seconds, however, he saw no choice, though he did wait for a gap in the passersby to speak. "I saw him arguing with an officer in the woods on my way back. It was something about unit morale, then he just-"

Indigo grabbed him by the wrist and started tugging to shut him up. She seemed suddenly uneasy. "That's enough."

"Where are we going?" he asked, trying to match her hurried strides.

Her eyes darted about. "Somewhere we can talk in private."

Indigo dragged him through the city for about twenty minutes before he began to recognize their surroundings. Her apartment complex stood out like a sore thumb among the dreary skyline; when they reached its front entrance, she finally released Opher's hand and pushed him inside first. Only when they entered the elevator and its doors slid close did she speak again. "What did this guy look like?"

Opher rattled off a description. "A lot like you, actually. Bluish hair, dark skin. Pretty tall. A little taller than me, maybe? I'm not sure."

"Fuck me," Indigo muttered under her breath. "He was entering training for my MOS about the time I graduated. A few of the officers thought we were brother and sister for a little while."

The acronym made him tilt his head. "MOS?"

"Military Occupational Specialty. 'Cause they can't just call it your job, oh no. Gotta be a bunch of five-Lien words stuck together." Indigo clammed up again as the doors opened. She skittered down the corridor straight to her apartment, but waited for Opher before unlocking the door. "Don't mind the mess."

"Can't be any worse than my place." Yet, when he walked into her living room, the stated clutter was nowhere to be found. " _What_ mess?" he finally blurted out.

Indigo scratched at her hair. "Oh, yeah, it's Tuesday. I forgot about housekeeping."

He looked down at her with surprise, and perhaps a bit of envy too. "This complex has housekeeping?"

"The rent is obnoxious, but you get what you pay for. I'm gonna change. Just hang out here for a minute."

"Yeah, yeah." Unlike his carpeted apartment, hers had dark hardwood floors. Her white couch was bigger. Her TV was bigger. Even her glass-top coffee table was enormous. Every inch of the place appeared to be freshly cleaned. And in stark contrast to Opher, Indigo had shelves with little tchotchkes and pictures everywhere. Most of those images seemed to be of her and Schwarze, some at the latter's pub.

One image broke this trend. Opher immediately walked over to it. In it stood a swarthy, grinning man, a pale, shy-looking woman, and their two daughters. One was clearly a young Indigo. He immediately deduced that Indigo had her mother's eyes, but her father's hair and complexion. The other had pallid skin and pale yellow locks. In contrast to Indigo's wide grin, a ghostly smile was on this other girl's face. The fact that she had a sibling was a complete surprise; not once had Indigo brought it up. He examined the parents' expressions and found them strangely unreadable despite their smiles. The background of the image was a drab gray city with an earthen, floodlight-speckled sky beyond its buildings.

"Heh, I knew you'd be interested in that one."

Opher turned to look at Indigo as she walked back into the room. He stepped aside so she could reach up and take the photo off the shelf. "You know, when I first saw this picture, I couldn't figure out why mom and dad had those looks," she said, dusting off the glass. "Then everything happened." She put the picture back and looked up at Opher. "Like father, like daughter. I ended up exactly the same way he did, except…" Her shoulders slumped. "Worse."

"What do you mean?" When their gazes met again, the distance in her eyes made him blink.

"He was in the Army too. Explosives engineer. When he retired, he opened up Diamond Dust in Vale. You can imagine how he must've felt when the Army mobilized him to help turn his former home into a fucking tomb." Indigo turned away from the photo and proceeded to plop unceremoniously onto her couch. "We lived in the cave system until my parents decided we couldn't. Some of dad's buddies in the service told him to get out, and we got out. That picture got taken when I was… eight? Maybe nine. Exploratory tunnels were already being drilled 'cause of the Grimm attacks from above." She slumped back against the couch and sighed. "The window for getting out safely closed real fast after that."

Opher digested this only briefly before steering Indigo back to her earlier words. "What do you mean you ended up worse?"

The distance in her ochre eyes grew ever larger. "Remember when I told you how keen the officers were to make sure everyone got along?"

"Yeah?" Opher said, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

"They needed eyes and ears in the field. That's where I came in."

"Huh. That doesn't sound so bad," he said uncertainly. "There are worse things to do than spy on people."

Indigo shifted uncomfortably. "I had the authorization to execute anyone I thought was an immediate emotional threat to the unit. No questions asked. Usually, I'd need to let the higher-ups know my intentions… unless my target was attracting the Grimm. That happens more often than you'd think."

"Oh." Opher looked off for a few seconds. "Wow." Then he thought about the marks on her sniper rifle. "The rings on your rifle, were they…?"

"Uh huh." Indigo rubbed her face for a while. "Dad understood. He'd been around them before. Mom didn't. She didn't want me anywhere near Jasmine after she found out, so that's why they moved away."

Her demeanor told Opher she was anything but. "Is that true?" He clarified after receiving a quizzical look. "That you were okay with it, I mean."

"Oh, right. I… I dunno." She put her feet up on the table and stared at the ceiling. "The first couple of times were the hardest things I'd ever done."

He knew exactly where she was coming from. "And then it got easier, didn't it?"

Indigo's eyes became vacant. "It sure did. Kill the few to save the many, just like they kept telling us in training. When dad heard about my record, he begged me to get out before I turned into a monster."

Opher shed his hat and matched her slumped back position, though he kept his feet off of her table. "He used his shop to force you out of the Army."

"Yeah. I think he figured I would have given up on it by now, but… he followed mom and Jasmine to Mistral and I haven't heard from 'em since." Indigo's head turned his way slightly to gauge any reaction. There wasn't much to see. "Anyway, my job wasn't too popular to begin with, not to mention the people with, you know, grudges. I only ended up with one friend from the service."

"I guess I can see why." Opher couldn't figure out who this friend might be, though. "Have I met them?"

"Sure." She pointed to the nearest picture of Schwarze.

He had a difficult time placing the dainty woman in a soldier's uniform. "Are you serious?"

Indigo couldn't help but snicker a little. "If it wasn't for her, I'd have one less mark on my rifle. It'd be a funny story if it weren't so awful."

She seemed unwilling to go farther on that topic, so he replied with a "Huh." Then he eyed some of the pictures again. "You guys make a cute couple." A grin appeared when she slapped him on the arm.

"I can't believe you haven't run away," she said with an anxious smile.

Opher waved away her amazement and tugged his hat back on. "What do I have to be afraid of?" Over the next few moments, her expression became somewhat solemn. "So, neither of us have clean hands."

"A soldier and a Huntsman? Shit, how could we?" Indigo twisted her hair into a loose ponytail as she groped for something else to say. "I gotta say… you're probably a little scarier than I am, Mister Volcano."

Opher, blank-faced at first, suddenly put on a smirk. "I know. I can't believe _you_ haven't run away." It only got bigger when she smacked him lightly again. "It's funny. I used to have an awful temper. I exploded a lot, literally and figuratively."

"What changed?"

His smirk faded away long before he managed to answer. "Oh… just the passage of time, I guess"

Not knowing how to respond, Indigo quickly hopped up and darted out of sight into the hallway. A curious Opher looked that way for a few seconds, but didn't bother to get up himself. She returned moments later with her assault rifle and the pistol that was ostensibly his. "Here," she said, tossing the sidearm to him. "Get up and let's go."

Confusion crinkled his brow. "Where are we off to now?"

She nodded down at her rifle and smiled. "To the range. I need to make sure this thing still shoots straight. Since you're here, may as well give you a lesson, right?"

Despite the bitter, subconscious reminders about what he was opening himself up to, the hopeful glimmer in Indigo's eyes made him smile a little. It was like the first time his mother had ever invited him to train with her. Opher turned the weapon over in his hands once before looking up with a shrug. "Ah, why not? I'm sure you'll enjoy laughing at how bad of a shot I must be."

As they headed for her front door, however, Opher suddenly hesitated. "What's up?" she asked.

"That sniper in the forest? He wanted to shoot me, too, but I mentioned your name and he walked away. Why's that?"

Indigo's pleasant mask became a little bit darker. "Not surprising, I guess. When you've got a record like mine, you end up with a reputation whether you earned it or not."

* * *

"Damn, Emmy, you look like you're doing homework."

Mercury had a point. Scattered across Emerald's bed were hardbound books of all sorts; some were opened, while others had pages marked. The thief herself had been in the middle of taking notes when her partner got snarky. "If only I had someone to help me," she shot back, her eyes hardly more than slits. "But I'm not reading comic books, so I guess that's not gonna happen."

"Aren't you just the perfect little pupil. You gonna bring Cinder an apple when you're done?" Mercury easily caught the book she hurled at him and smirked. "Touchy."

Emerald regained her cool and went back to work. "Shut your trap, or you'll be dreaming about your legs going missing tonight."

"I've got life experience for those nightmares, sweetheart." Mercury took a glance at the book she'd tried to kill him with and blinked. "Hey, that Belladonna girl has this book too. Seems like she carries it everywhere."

"It's a good story, not that you'd know what one of those looks like." Emerald sat up and thumbed through all the information she'd gathered on her Scroll. "The more I look at this stuff, the more it seems like it was written about you-know-who."

"Oh come on, really?" He met Emerald's serious look with a roll of his eyes. "How old is this fairy tale?"

"It's pretty old. The original legend appeared in Mantle about eight hundred years ago." Emerald put her Scroll aside and stood up to stretch. "A few other stories from the continent from around the same era all feature a character that frequently wears hats and has a tattoo, or tattoos, on his left arm. Sound familiar?"

"Ugh." Mercury tossed the book away and fell back onto his own bed. "And Cinder is thinkin' he's eight hundred years old?"

"Not Cinder, the big boss. And Cinder thinks he's _way_ older than that."

Hearing this made him sit up again. "She does?" Emerald nodded at him. "How old?" He looked down as his Scroll chimed and opened it up; she'd sent him the image comparison that initially piqued Cinder's interest. "You can't be serious!" he exclaimed.

Emerald flicked her long locks back over her shoulders and nodded again. "Yep. And since his power acts like a Maiden's, Cinder thinks he might be-"

Mercury knew exactly what she was about to say. "-the Wizard. Holy hell. Am I the only one that thinks this is a huge problem?" He sat upright and looked at her. "He could just up and decide to wipe the floor with our asses one day, _especially_ if he finds out what we're after. Then what?"

"You've got a point, I guess, but…" The thief decided to send what she'd gathered so far to her mistress after a moment of awkward silence. "If he tries anything, Cinder will know what to do. She always has."

"Yeah, well, if she's got a plan, I'd like to hear it," he said with a scowl. As Emerald began to tidy up, a bored Mercury stood and started to throw practice kicks at the air.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, annoyed.

"Just stayin' loose," he replied with a grin.

Emerald rolled her eyes and returned to gathering her books. "I have never seen someone that loves to kick things as much as you."

"With legs like this, who wouldn't?"

"Ugh." Emerald looked away as her Scroll chimed. The message she read made her brow furrow slightly. "She wants to see us."

"Uh oh." He followed her out of the room and up the corridor, yawning as Emerald rapped on the door and waited to be granted entry. He blinked when Cinder opened it herself and motioned them inside. "What's up?"

Only when they were safely past the door did Cinder address her associates. "Emerald, were there any working surveillance devices in the tunnel?"

Emerald didn't quite know how to react to the question at first, but her brain quickly engaged and she stammered, "N-no. That's the reason Torchwick picked it. He knew the electricity to those cameras had already been cut by the Grimm." The sour look on Cinder's face said that was the wrong answer. She tensed up instinctively.

"Then we have a problem," Cinder said at length, her features softening. "Our Lady has given us an assignment; it appears I'll need a new way to carry it out. You two shall help me."

Mercury folded his arms with a confident smirk. "Sounds like a challenge. What are we supposed to do?"

Cinder turned to him with a serious gaze. "She wants to see what happens when Riese's life is in peril. Since we've no footage from the breach, it falls to us to make that happen." While she drew some amusement from their uncomfortable reactions, that squirming grew stale in a few seconds. "Mercury's idea may be our best option. We will isolate him outside the wall," she added with a glower. "I want this engagement to be carefully controlled."

"How are we gonna pull that off if Emmy can't screw with his brain?" he asked.

A wicked grin appeared. "Smoke and mirrors. Prepare yourselves, then meet me at the airship pads. I shall retrieve our precious little magician."


	20. Chapter 20

In the process of getting ready for their outing, Cinder learned an interesting bit of information from her communications tap: Opher had been banned from the Beacon campus. While she couldn't really guess at why, it seemed pertinent enough to tell Neo as the two walked toward their meeting with Emerald and Mercury. "Our strange friend appears to have gotten himself in trouble," she noted. "He has been barred from the Academy grounds."

Neo cocked her head quizzically. After a brief series of taps on her Scroll, she showed Cinder its screen. _Why?_

"Your guess is as good as mine. I noticed Professor Ozpin entering the amphitheater as I left. Perhaps they had a… disagreement." Cinder cast her eyes ahead as they neared the airship pads. Sure enough, her associates were already waiting there.

"Hey, shorty," Mercury greeted Neo when they arrived. She gave him an icy look, at which he only smirked.

"Could you stop being you for a minute?" Emerald said, her eyes rolling a bit. She gave Neo a gentle fist bump. "Don't mind him." The tiny illusionist texted her a message that made both of them grin wildly.

Emerald's giggling caused Mercury to glare her way. "Hey, are you making fun of me?" he asked, growing annoyed when neither girl would answer him.

"Focus," Cinder said, bringing her team back to the task at hand. "Have we any idea where the target is right now?"

"I think the press does." She held up her Scroll so they could see. "Somebody saw him entering this shooting range a few hours ago with Indigo Stahl. They've been camped out there ever since and nobody's seen them leave."

"Hmm." Cinder turned her attention to Neo. "Blend in with the reporters outside and wait."

"What about us?" an antsy Mercury cut in.

"You and Emerald are going to rile up the Grimm." It was Cinder's turn to fuss with her Scroll. "Forever Fall is the wilderness nearest that area of Vale. You will go to the forest and wait for us to bring Opher Riese. Stay near the wall if you must, but I want a _horde_ of monsters when we arrive."

"Got it. Looks like we get to pretend to be Hunters some more." Emerald drew her revolvers and eyed them for a moment. "Where are you gonna be, ma'am?"

Cinder put on a smug half-smile. "Helping Neo set the bait. Go. We shall be in touch." Emerald and Mercury took their leave, eventually disappearing between some distant buildings. "They will need time to get into position," she added to Neo. "We'll hail an airship in the meantime." Neo batted her green eyes and put on the most inquisitive look she could. Cinder regarded her with the faintest of smiles. "Oh, the plan? Quite simple, really. Allow me to explain."

* * *

Opher's shooting stance would have been impressive had Indigo not seen so much wrong with it. Two hours' worth of coaching had apparently failed to help in this regard. "You're holdin' the gun all wrong!" she chided him.

"I'm holding it exactly like you showed me!" he fired back, keeping his focus on the target.

She tugged at her ponytail and sighed. "You know what? Forget it. We're gonna be here all night at this rate. Just shoot and let's see what happens." Indigo stepped to the right and out of his way to watch him pull the trigger. And pull it he did; the first shot at least hit the target, but the next two didn't even come close. "You have literally never fired a gun before. I don't believe this."

Opher's brow furrowed with irritation. "You know, I don't really _need_ firearms in the first place. That should be pretty clear by now."

"Hey, it's never a bad idea to have a backup plan, Mister Volcano."

Again, his brow furrowed. "Is that my new nickname?"

"Damn right."

"I think I liked 'new guy' better," he grumbled while adjusting his grip on the weapon again. "What am I doing wrong?"

A slightly-huffy Indigo gave him the same advice she did Jaune. "Squeeze, don't pull!"

And it got basically the same result. "What's the difference, exactly?" he asked through a frown.

"Just…" She struggled with explaining such a simple concept before realizing it might have only been simple to _her_. Recalling how her own teacher in the Army had done it took several moments. "You gotta push with your finger, not pull with the muscles in your arm," she said at length. "It's a button, not a handle."

"Okay…" Opher tried to focus on the motions of his finger and fired again. This shot struck the target outline in the left chest. "Like this?"

Indigo nodded with approval. "Hey, center mass. That's better. Try it again." She watched his next two rounds hit home, the last of which found the target silhouette's head. "Yeah! You're getting-" A thought hit her; she looked up at him with a glare. "Are you cheating?"

"How dare you, Indigo," he said, his disdain purely mocking. "How would I be cheating?"

"I dunno, fuckin' wind Dust, or however it is you-" Here her voice became dusky and low, "made us fly."

"Indy, I deflect bullets, not guide them." The shock on her face caused Opher to grin. "Surely you didn't think I've never been shot at."

"I don't even know why I'm surprised." Indigo turned and walked around for a few steps, her hands on her hips. "Empty your magazine. Shoot fast." She turned just in time to watch him quickly fire off the last three rounds he had. This grouping was around chest level and about the size of a Lien card. "Good. If you didn't cheat."

Opher awkwardly expelled the empty magazine, nearly dropping it in the process. "I would have to reach into the gun before I fired, grab the bullet, fire, then hold it all the way to the target. You really think I'm capable of concentration like that?" But the serious expression on Indigo's face told him that she no longer bought his attempts to sell himself short. "Don't give me that look. I can't."

"Uh huh, Mister Volcano." Indigo picked up her assault rifle and aimed. Seven three-round bursts left her weapon in rapid succession; every single one struck the target's forehead. "Betcha can't do that either," she stated proudly. When Opher failed to reply, she looked over and found him staring into the empty magazine he'd just ejected. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know how to reload this," he said, thrusting it toward her.

Indigo, staring with disbelief, took it from him and shook her head. "My god."

And she also took his pistol. Opher folded his arms and peered down at her. "What was the point of giving me that thing if I can't keep it for more than three hours?"

"For your safety and everyone else's," she explained. "Come on, it's getting late."

"I guess so." Opher looked out a nearby window and frowned at the persistent throng of media beyond. "They're still there."

Indigo regarded the sight with a groan. "Of course they are. The public affairs officers told me Vale's reporters were like vultures. I think that's an insult to the vultures." She turned back to Opher. "Any ideas?"

"How about we go by rooftop? I mean, since I can fly and all," he responded with a cheeky grin.

"Works for me." Indigo holstered his pistol and hung her own rifle off her shoulder. "We'll go out the back."

"I don't know why they're making such a big deal out of this," Opher remarked as he fell in behind her.

"Are you kidding me? Vale hasn't had Grimm within its walls in, like, _forever_." Thankfully, when she pushed open the rear exit door, only a few reporters were waiting beyond the fence that lined the street. The instant they noticed the couple, cameras and Scrolls went up to take pictures. "Well?" she said, looking up at him as questions started flying. The flashes made her squint. "Do you mind?" she shouted.

Enough time had passed for Opher to judge which of the surrounding buildings would be their best option for escape. A tall, red-brick apartment block stood out. He took Indigo by the hand and summoned a stiff gale in the same breath, launching both into the night air to the vocal shock of the gathered reporters. The startled expression on her face as they landed made him smirk a bit. "Sorry. I didn't want to telegraph where we were going."

"I…" She awkwardly took her hand away from his and glanced off to the side. "Yeah. Good idea." When he took it back, instinct told her to jerk it free, but this time his grip was iron. "Hey, what are you-" And they were off again, hurtling through the moonlit sky and plopping down on another tall structure's roof. "Stop that!" she chided him angrily after they'd landed again. "Or at least warn me first, you ass!"

"I did," Opher said, pointing at the hand he'd held. "Or would you rather I just start flinging us in random directions without _any_ notice?"

Red-faced and annoyed, Indigo glared daggers at him with her hands on her hips. "You think you're being cute, but you ain't." Then she took stock of their surroundings. Vale's crazy elevated highway system dominated the skyline in one direction, while a forest of smokestacks with their red airship warning lights commanded the other. The bridges held her attention. "Let's go that way," she pointed. "I wanna drop by Schwarze's-" His wry smirk made her stop; she immediately knew why he was smiling. Her visage became slightly dour. "If you actually _drop_ me anywhere, I'll shoot your ass."

"I just thought your choice of wording was interesting, that's all." Opher peered at the bridges, trying to estimate their distance. "How fast do you want to get there?"

Indigo eyed him even more while stepping back warily. "I had enough of this shit when we went to Mountain Glenn, Opher." He held out his hand anyway. "No!"

While he maintained his smile, something about it became distant and vaguely gloomy. "If you're really going to be my friend, you'd better get used to it. This is usually about as normal as things get around me."

The abrupt shift in his tone threw Indigo off-guard. She cast a look at the smokestacks and held it for a few seconds in thought. "You know what?" she finally began while meeting his gaze, "It's not like my life can get any _worse_." When she took his hand this time, however, Opher failed to propel them anywhere. "What's the matter?" she asked after a few uneasy seconds.

Opher had lost himself in trying to figure out how to balance her assertion with his own desires; he snapped back to reality and glanced over when she spoke. "Eh. Lot on my mind. Here we go." He did his best to make this launch smoother than the last. They flew over Vale, gaining altitude in a gentle parabola that seemed to be taking them right toward the broken moon.

Two particularly tall buildings whipped past, causing Indigo to lose her cool. "Oh fuck, oh god, oh man," she gasped quickly. "Last time I had this kind of view, there was a fuckin' _airship_ around me." She looked over at Opher just to make sure he was still there. "Why the hell do you walk anywhere when you can do this?"

He grinned back at her. "Oh, I guess I'm not much for making a scene. Besides, I like my exercise." Another heavy puff of air from below helped them pass the huge highway interchange where he'd seen Team RWBY and the Paladin some weeks earlier. The bridge over Schwarze's pub closed in quickly afterward. Upon arrival, Opher let them drop like stones toward the street below.

Indigo, eyes tightly shut, managed to swallow her desperate wish to scream. A relieved sigh came out when she felt the cushion of air slow their descent.

However, now it was her unwilling to release his hand. "Uh, you can let go," he said, wiggling gently. "We're here."

"Just…" When Indigo looked, finally, there were stunned customers gazing out the pub's windows to meet her eyes. Schwarze herself was at the door to investigate their entrance. Passersby on both sides of the street muttered with amazement. More than a few were taking pictures. "So much for not making a scene, you fool."

He only shrugged. "We're already famous, not sure how much worse this shit could make it."

"Uh, did you guys fall from the bridge?" Schwarze asked, pointing up at it.

"It's a long story," Indigo replied, releasing Opher from her grasp and walking toward the pub. "What's the special today?" Before her friend could answer, however, she noticed Opher was still standing on the sidewalk. "Aren't you coming?"

"Why not?" he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I never did eat dinner."

* * *

Half an hour's passage saw Indigo finish off her one and only glass of fine Mistralian rye whiskey and push her empty plate away. Opher, meanwhile, had gone for a second round of onion rings, though he hadn't partaken in any alcohol. What few patrons remained in the pub kept a constant, but respectful eye on both. "What's their problem?" Indigo asked Schwarze.

She plucked another glass from the bar to clean and shrugged. "Maybe they want your autographs." Her blue eyes lit up. "Can _I_ have your autographs?" Indigo's annoyed mask dampened her hopes. "Awww…"

"You can have mine, I guess," Opher said around a mouthful of food.

Schwarze giggled lowly. "Does your Scroll number come with it?" A startled noise left her throat when Indigo grumbled lowly.

Opher, suddenly amused, decided to poke some fun at his boss. "Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Check please," she said firmly. "I got shit to do in the morning. Might as well call it a night."

Schwarze tallied up her tab mentally in about four seconds. "17.85. Oh, and tip. Please. I need the tip."

"Yeah, yeah." Indigo produced a blue Lien card and flicked it at her. "How much do I have left on that?"

"Let's see." The raven-haired woman gave it a scan with her Scroll. "Forty and a bit."

"Just keep it, then." Indigo slid off the bar stool and picked her rifle up from the floor. "I'm out. Later, C. Later, Mister Volcano."

Opher waved a goodbye, though it came with a bit of a scowl attached. "Please stop calling me that." Once Indigo had gone, however, he had a realization. "Why did she call you that?"

"C stands for cook!" Schwarze sang. "She has trouble pronouncing my name sometimes."

"Oh, I get it." Opher wondered if that had been her role in the Army as well, but he didn't feel right about prying. "I suppose I'd better go too. I may eat every onion ring you can make otherwise." From under his hat he plucked a red Lien card and set it down. "Just keep the change."

No reporters were around to greet him as he emerged into the night air; the nearby presence of police got his attention, however. He wondered idly if the two things were related. Intent on heading home, Opher turned left and started to walk. A flash of blue off to the right caught his attention. In an alleyway across the street stood Indigo, her back to him. "Eh?" he muttered, coming to a halt and watching her. A box truck passed between them; she vanished in the second it took to travel by. Thoroughly confused, Opher used a gap in the traffic to dart over and investigate. When he reached the exact spot and found nothing, he decided the best course of action was to give her a call.

Several rings later, however, all he got was her voicemail. A frowning Opher put his Scroll away and looked around again. "What did I see?" he asked himself. Ethereal tugging at his nerves forced his gaze skyward. This gut feeling soon twisted into an urge to gain the high ground. Boosting himself to the rooftops was easy, but finding an answer to what he'd just seen proved impossible.

He was on the precipice of giving up and jumping down when his eyes passed over a silhouette on a sloped roof about a city block ahead, barely illuminated by the street lights below. Opher had the idea to use the zoom function on his Scroll's camera to get a better view. With its aid, he realized this shadow also looked like Indigo's small, athletic frame, trademark ponytail included. Since he couldn't immediately deduce a reason for her presence, Opher began to wonder if someone was messing around with him. There was one way to find out: after a running start, he launched himself in a gentle parabola over the buildings between him and her. His eyes went down to ensure he wouldn't trip on anything upon landing. When he looked up again, she was gone.

Once again, Opher found no clues upon arriving at where he'd seen her "Someone is fucking with me," he decided, glaring off into space. Another call to Indigo's Scroll proved fruitless, so he couldn't be a hundred percent sure. He checked the time on the device before putting it away. "Not like I'm busy tomorrow. Let's see what's going on." As he searched the darkened rooftops, he saw Indigo, or her doppelganger, standing on an office building across the street. "All right, then. I hope you're fast, whoever you are."

Cinder leaned out from behind one of the large, boxy air conditioning units, just in time to see Opher leap from the building and move north across the rooftops. "I believe we've finally found this particular puppet's strings," Cinder commented through a smirk. Before she gave chase, she dispatched a message to Emerald about their progress.

* * *

Her text was a welcome sight. For the past thirty minutes, Emerald been shadowing a sizable clutch of Beowolves and Boarbatusks in the red-leafed tree branches, being careful to stay calm and out of sight. Learning that Opher was now hurtling toward her made remaining stoic a tougher battle, but this time she'd have a team backing her up. As she watched the Grimm prowl, the unmistakable silhouette of a giant Death Stalker came into view ahead. "That's much better," she whispered to herself. The mighty creature wasn't alone; near it in the trees was a crouched humanoid shape sitting in the branches. She already knew its identity.

"Hey, look what I found!" came Mercury's whisper from her Scroll.

"Yeah, good for you," she mumbled in reply. "Think this is enough?"

"Maybe. There were some huge Ursae coming this way too. If we can get him trapped right around here, it should be a hell of a show."

"Right. You lead." Emerald sent a reply to Cinder describing their location and clipped the Scroll to her belt. She drew one revolver and fired a shot at the Grimm to get their attention; when they all trundled her way, the echoing report of one of Mercury's kicks rang out and made them turn around. She gave chase as they moved to investigate.

The two criminals baited the Grimm into chasing one or the other, biding their time until Cinder's arrival. It was more a game than work to Emerald, who treated the Grimm with such cocky dismissal that at one point she dropped to the ground and whistled to draw their ire. Before they could even begin to charge, she was back into the trees and out of sight.

"You're having fun, huh?"

Emerald glanced down at Mercury's voice and smirked. "I can't wait to accidentally kill this asshole," she replied with a vicious smile. The arrival of the promised Ursae made her look up. Just as he'd said, their sleuth had some absolutely immense members. "Damn, you weren't joking about big ones, were you?"

"Told ya."

"Oh, I'm gonna _enjoy_ this." Emerald fired another round to help the Grimm coalesce into a larger, more unified clump as they thundered in her direction. She and Mercury controlled the monsters like leashed dogs for another twenty minutes until her Scroll emitted a chime. "They're coming," she told Mercury. The thief nearly lost her footing with surprise when her partner dropped down from the branch above. "Don't do that, you idiot!"

"Oh, my bad," he replied, his hands raised. Not a minute later, Cinder descended from above and perched in the tree with them. "Hey, boss. How's it going?"

"Neo is luring him this way." Cinder flicked a red leaf off her shoulder and took a gentle breath. The gathering of black creatures below won an approving look. "Quite the zoo you've assembled."

Emerald loaded a new memory card into her Scroll. "I'm ready to record. Just, uh, one question. What happens if he ends up dying? Do we get in trouble?"

Cinder detected the anticipatory undertone in her voice and frowned. "Then he is clearly not who She thinks he is. No skin off of our backs." A renewed clamor from the ground made all three turn; Neo, still disguised as Indigo, came dancing through the Grimm. Her quick, fluid movements were more than enough to avoid their clumsy attacks; at points it seemed as if she was literally dancing around. A few seconds later, Opher himself appeared, walking at a leisurely pace.

"Here we go," Emerald muttered excitedly. She gave Neo a hand up into their perch as the girl shook her hair back to its usual two-tone state.

"Look at that smug bastard," Mercury added. It didn't take long before a huge problem became apparent. "Uh… why aren't they attacking him?" Many of the monsters were looking right at Opher, yet none of them seemed to acknowledge his presence. He looked over at his stone-faced mistress. "Isn't that _your_ thing?"

"Silence," she warned lowly. Maintaining her stoic mask got more difficult when Opher reached out and patted a Boarbatusk's carapace and still failed to provoke a response.

"If this was your idea to kill me, whoever you are," Opher called with his hands cupped around his mouth, "You're gonna need a different plan."

"Uh, ma'am?" an uneasy Emerald whispered as she filmed the scene. "I don't think…" She fell silent when she noticed Cinder's fists clench.

Without the false Indigo to chase, Opher had gotten a bit bored and hopped onto the Death Stalker's back as it skittered heavily through the trees. "Come on!" he yelled. "Oh, you've got cold feet now, huh? Can't imagine why."

Cinder checked her Scroll for a signal, intent on contacting her liaison with Salem to inform them of this development. Beacon's tower was out of range, however. "We will have to think of something else," she stated coldly, putting it away.

"Okay, and what might that be?" Mercury asked quietly. Opher, still on the Death Stalker's back, passed beneath their feet. Both he and Emerald tensed up slightly.

"To start, a distraction," Cinder replied, snapping her eyes over to Emerald. "Shoot at him."

The thief jumped with surprise. "I, but-" The vacant stare Cinder followed up with caused Emerald's heart to skip a few beats. She fumbled with a revolver and aimed it at Opher's retreating form, but couldn't find a good angle around the Death Stalker's waving tail. The passing seconds snowballed as Opher and his mount continued away. Fully expecting a violent rebuke for her hesitance, Emerald lost control of her emotions for a split-second and shrank in expectation of being struck.

Even that momentary lapse was enough to attract the Grimm's attention. They turned as one and looked back toward the tree that contained her. Opher stood up and looked as well; in another instant, looking became acting as he hurled a blue fireball into its branches. Cinder and her associates were forced to split up as they evaded and dropped out of the tree to escape. As Emerald and Mercury went their separate ways, she sneaked a look back to see Opher charging forward with the Grimm at his side.

"You've... gotta be... fucking kidding me," she growled between breaths. On desperate strides, she flung herself deeper into the crimson forest with half a dozen monsters on her heels. She drew her revolvers and converted them to their kama forms in nearly the same motion, becoming a whirlwind of chains and blades as she decapitated one of the giant Ursae giving chase. The creatures accompanying it were momentarily obstructed by the fall of its massive corpse, though it faded away in few seconds.

This gave Emerald just enough of a chance to get herself under control. With precisely controlled breaths, her emotions cooled to the point that the beasts lost interest and began to scatter. Feeling a bit safer now, Emerald turned and ran again, carrying her momentum up a tree trunk and into the branches. The ponderous footsteps of the Grimm faded into the stiff rustling of the leaves around her. "Phew," she sighed, shaking the hair out of her eyes as the wind blew again. Replaying what had just happened made her lips purse. "What in the hell is going on here?" Vibrations reached her feet; it felt like someone had just entered her tree, so she turned to check. No one was visible. "Mercury?" she said into her open Scroll, "Are you screwing with me?"

No reply came. The branch on which she stood suddenly sagged a bit. Emerald exposed the blades on her revolvers and whirled on the arrival, only to find Neo. "You scared the hell out of me!" she gasped. "Geez."

Neo shrugged an apology and produced her own Scroll, tapping out a message which she eventually showed to Emerald.

"Where do we regroup? Good question. Until we figure out where Riese went, it's-" Emerald fell silent when Neo brandished her parasol, clearly in response to someone standing behind the thief. "What?" she blurted out, not having felt the branch sag again.

"Good news! You _found_ me."

Opher's words caused Emerald's heart to sink, then leap into her throat. She turned rapidly on her heel, coming to a stop with both revolvers pointed at his face. "You son of a bitch," she hissed venomously.

He looked past her at Neo, dismissed the small girl as unimportant, and stared at Emerald with a smile despite having a faceful of revolver. "Yeah, see, the last time you tried this shit, I threw you off of a building." He glanced down at the red grass and smirked frigidly. "You wanna go again? Not sure this tree is tall enough to get my point across."

The memories, combined with his smile, proved too much for Emerald to bear. "Fuck you!" she shrieked, squeezing the triggers. The night filled with sharp cracks and flashes of light as her rounds impacted; she fired until both her guns ran dry and clicked uselessly. Opher, or what of him she could see through the cloud of smoke, appeared slumped back against the trunk of the tree. Emerald's breaths were heavy despite the acrid nature of the air she inhaled. To make matters worse, the nearby Grimm had felt her rage and were now thundering toward their location at full speed. "Oh, damn it," she muttered, struggling to reload her weapons with trembling hands. Beowolves and Ursae clawed at the tree beneath them. "Neo! We need to m-"

Suddenly, glittering lances of ice shot out of the smoky fog and nailed the monsters to the soil, each one getting one or two spikes depending on their size. An unharmed Opher weaved a gentle breeze to shoo the haze away and grinned at both girls when they regarded him. "You look surprised," he remarked to Emerald. A white-eyed Neo got an even bigger smile. "She looks _really_ surprised."

"B-but… I… point-blank…" Emerald's shoulders slumped heavily. "How?"

The sole accomplishment of her furious volley had been knocking Opher's hat off. He put it back on and stood up straight. "I should have known you morons were up to something."

Before she could reply, Mercury's voice came from her Scroll. "Emmy, you still kicking? I just heard a lot of noise over there."

"For the moment," Opher called in response, his eyes glued to the thief and her companion. "How long that remains true is still to be determined."

"Oh, hell. Hey! Boss! He's got-"

Emerald turned off her Scroll and looked back at Neo. "Can you shift us both out of here?" Neo shook her head once. "It's fine. I'll handle this." Her gaze returned to Opher as the dainty girl vanished in a flash of white light.

"Neat trick," he admitted lowly. Then his full attention went back to the thief as she finished reloading her weapons. "Planning to waste some more ammunition?"

"You know, if you could kill me so easily, why haven't you?" she asked, raising her revolvers again. "I mean, I must not be much of a challenge for an immortal like you."

If Opher was surprised that she knew of his agelessness, he showed no sign of it. "You're right, you aren't," he confirmed evenly. "The thing is… you all have become useful to me."

Her red eyes narrowed almost to slits. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

The flickering of an approaching light on the ground forced her to glance away. Its source was Cinder, carrying balls of yellow flame in both hands. Emerald jumped down the moment her mistress launched the attack, but Opher casually leaped from the tree only after it was engulfed in flames. Mercury arrived a few seconds later; all three stood side-by-side and faced the lanky man down. "Where is our fourth?" Cinder asked Emerald, her right eye outlined in fire as she tapped the Maiden's might.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere," Emerald replied, fingering the triggers of her revolvers.

"I see." Cinder motioned to her underlings, who relaxed slightly in their martial stances, and stepped forward to confront Opher herself. "You are beyond the Grimm. I would like to know how."

"Some people live long enough to outgrow their nightmares," he said, folding his arms with a smile. "Your eye's on fire, by the way."

They regarded each other in silence, one smiling, one blank-faced. The only sounds came in the form of the crackling of the tree Cinder had set ablaze. It occurred to Opher that at some point during this standoff, Emerald and Mercury had disappeared. He assumed an ambush would be in the cards if and when Cinder made her move.

Unfortunately, her opening attack required all of his attention; Cinder propelled herself on a pillar of roaring flames, closing the distance so fast Opher barely had time to bring up his arms in defense. She unleashed a rapid series of punches interspersed with sweeping, fiery kicks. Whenever both her feet were on solid ground, she snapped glass arrows out of thin air and fired them with her bow. Opher was forced to keep his arms up to absorb her assault, but absorb it he did. Cinder's arrows dinged off his flesh with visible white sparks.

Undeterred, she struck again, hurling fireball after fireball at her foe to force him backward through the trees. After the projectiles failed to incur any real damage, Cinder lashed out with whips of pure lightning, trying to ensnare Opher's limbs and electrocute him. His skin proved too slippery to catch, so she tried to run him through with lances of ice instead. Their tips broke off upon crashing into his torso, but the impact knocked him backward. To press this advantage, a wildly-motioning Cinder chose wind Dust next, intent on filling Opher's lungs with air until they exploded within his chest. Something defeated this effort too; despite her vicious concentration, the hurricane in her hands swept around him and felled some of the red trees nearby.

The next move was chosen for her by the arrival of Mercury, who positioned himself a few yards behind an unwary Opher. Cinder snapped a path of ice under his feet and fired another gale to launch him backwards. Mercury lined up and drove an explosive kick into Opher's back when he arrived, bending his spine and launching him right over Cinder's head. As he tumbled limply through the air, Emerald dashed under him through the trees. After watching him for a few seconds, she managed to time a throw of her revolver so its chain wrapped around Opher's neck. When it went taut, she yanked down with all her might and jerked his body into the ground.

Since she couldn't pull the chain free from a distance, Emerald had to go over and retrieve her weapon manually. It presented a chance for her to get some extra revenge. "Fucker," she whispered harshly, unwrapping the chain by hand and slamming her foot into his sternum for good measure once it was free. He didn't even flinch; Emerald assumed he was unconscious now and kicked him again as Cinder and Mercury walked up.

"Is he out?" Mercury asked. "Sure looks like it."

"Serves the asshole right," Emerald spat, snapping her foot once more against the side of Opher's head.

"Enough. Get yourself under control before the Grimm return." Cinder crouched by his limp body to examine it. She paid special attention to his tattoos, but couldn't make heads or tails of the symbols. From a black pouch on her belt, she produced a white glove with a strange circular symbol on its palm. "Hold him. I want to try something." Once Mercury and Emerald had Opher sitting up, she pressed the glove to one of his cheeks. "If he is the Wizard, this should work as it did before."

Mercury cocked his head in surprise. "Wait, are you gonna try to steal his power?"

A venomous smile curled Cinder's lips. "Why should She settle for the Maiden's might when I may be able to deliver Her the fount from which it sprang?" From the palm of her glove crawled a tiny, worm-like Grimm, which spat out a stringy black goo that stuck to Opher's face. Every muscle and sinew in her body tensed in preparation to receive his strength.

Within a few seconds, Opher's gray essence became visible, flowing around him like liquid. It eventually began to travel up the conduit of black goo toward Cinder, who gasped with surprise. "Ma'am? What's happening?" Emerald asked, her grip on Opher's left arm tightening.

Enraptured, Cinder watched the ashen fog crawl up her own arm. Every breath seared her lungs with barely-fathomable cold, as if she were inhaling solid ice. Opher's power didn't mingle with the Maiden's might at all; in fact, within a few seconds his essence completely outshone it. "Frigid," Cinder finally muttered. Another feeling, one she couldn't describe, overwrote the Fall Maiden's gnawing. By the time she realized what it was, its iron grip closed around her pounding heart. "No!" she snapped, trying fruitlessly to break the connection. "No!"

"What?" Mercury let go of Opher's arm and went to Cinder's aid. "Boss! What's going on?!" By now, a half-dozen ghostly gray hands held the struggling Cinder down. "What the fuck is this?!"

"Hit him!" Emerald screamed, desperate to help her mistress. She placed a revolver to the side of Opher's head and opened fire as Mercury planted a boot into his back. Neither he nor Cinder budged. "It's not working!"

Meanwhile, Cinder drowned in the titanic misery that came with Opher's might. Its depth was such that it began to eclipse her own thoughts, replacing them with the faded smears of people and places Opher had known, but whose faces and names were lost to him forever. "Take it back!" she shrieked, trying to use the stolen Maiden's light to fight this encroaching gray cloud. "Take it-" Words failed her as she found herself looking at the head of a faceless, silvery phantom, rooted in Opher's chest. It's visage hovered an inch away from her nose.

"What in…" Emerald stood up and shot at the ghost, only for her bullet to ricochet harmlessly off. "What the hell is it?"

Despite all his strength and the aid of his metallic legs, Mercury couldn't pry Cinder loose. "Stop gawking and help me pull!" he yelled at his partner. She wrapped her arms around his waist and tugged, but even this combined effort failed. "Damn!"

An unseen force suddenly launched Cinder back, severing her glove's connection with Opher's face. Mercury and Emerald lost their grip quickly and tumbled to a stop after a few feet, but their mistress arced through the night air until impacting the ground and rolling into a tree trunk. "Cinder!" Emerald screeched, dashing away to check on her. Gray Aura wafted off Cinder's skin in clouds as she arrived, as if the woman's flesh were smoldering.

That fog traveled away and traveled against the wind, rejoining with the rest of Opher's essence via the phantom's outstretched hand. As Opher slowly sat up, the ghost retracted itself into his body. "So, is it my turn now?" he asked a horrified Mercury. After rising to his feet, he added with a grin, "Nah. You aren't worth what little effort it would take."

Mercury's frame coiled into a ready stance as Opher walked toward him, but no attack ever came. Instead, the lanky man followed the rest of his soul toward Cinder and Emerald. "Emmy!" Mercury yelled. "He's coming!" Feeling obligated to try _something_ , he sprinted over and directed a flying kick at the back of Opher's head. While he successfully made contact, a sudden bloom of ice froze his boot to Opher's skull. "The fu-"

"Gnat." Opher reached up, grabbed Mercury's leg, and sent writhing yellow bolts of electricity through the metal and into his body. The resulting heat melted the ice, allowing Opher to swing Mercury over his head and directly into the ground with a tremendous thud. "Wait here, little boy. I need to go talk to your mommy," he quipped derisively, giving the barely-conscious criminal a light kick on the way by.

A wild-eyed Emerald put herself between a still-smoking Cinder and Opher's inexorable approach. "Stay back!" she warned him, teeth bared and revolvers drawn.

"Oh, please. You're about as threatening to me as Jaune." He looked over as his hat came floating along, carried by an ethereal hand attached to the gray smoke that flowed toward him. "Thanks. I wondered where that went."

As he tugged it back on, Emerald opened fire. Her rounds glanced off the ghostly fog; those that managed to reach his skin did simply sparked off of it as they had before. She fired at him until they stood almost face-to-face. "Get away-"

"Please. _I_ can't even kill me, you don't stand a fucking chance." Tired of her presence, Opher snapped his left arm skyward and blasted her, screaming all the way, into the branches of the huge tree under which they stood. He then stepped over to Cinder and peered at the gray haze leaking from her mouth and nostrils. "Weaponized Grimm, huh? I'm legitimately impressed," he admitted after watching her for a few seconds. "Is that why you pulled this shit? To try and suck me dry? Honey, that's like bringing a bucket to the beach in order to steal the ocean."

Opher would have to kill her before Cinder would divulge anything. "End me if you must, Wizard," she breathed defiantly. That fierceness lost a little of its edge when she regarded his unmarred face.

A strange smile was the thing that cooled her emotions. "Wizard?" Opher lost his composure to a wild peal of laughter that echoed for ages through Forever Fall's crimson branches. "I'm almost insulted. This particular curse," he began, waving his fingers through the gray wisps that still connected them, "came from the _planet_." He gazed blankly in thought as Cinder hauled herself to her feet. "You taste like fall and strike like spring, but your bite is… lacking." Especially compared to the strongest Maiden he'd ever known. He held on only briefly to Carmine's memory before glancing away in thought. "You knew about them because you _are_ one. Or some of one, anyway. How'd you manage that? I'm guessing that glove has something to do with it."

"None of your business, demon," she spat, a puff of his essence accompanying her words. Her hands became engulfed in brilliant flames. "Do your worst."

Opher simply waved off her display. "I'm not gonna kill you, Cinder. I'm not even gonna kill your friends." Her vaguely confused look put a smirk on his face. "However, in light of recent events, I think it's time I adjusted the terms of our deal."


	21. Chapter 21

Emerald untangled herself from the tree branches and dropped down just in time to see Cinder apparently poised for an attack. Opher stood between her and her mistress, and she had his back. Despite their obvious lack of efficacy, she aimed her revolvers at his head again. "Do not," she warned, her breaths somewhat ragged. "Just… don't." her resolve faltered a bit when Opher peered back at her over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Cinder continued to vent wispy threads of his Aura from her nostrils. A sense of stinging cold followed her every exhalation. "State your intentions, demon. I have other things-"

Opher didn't feel like letting her finish. "I know who put you up to this," he interrupted, content to play mind games for now. "I believe part of the arrangement was to leave me alone, so you must have gotten _orders_ from her." Cinder's expression had become abruptly unreadable, which was all the tell he needed. "What, you thought I didn't know about Salem?"

Emerald showed all the amazement her mistress did not. "Wh-how?" she breathed, her weapons lowering slightly. Noise from behind drew her eye; an unsteady Mercury was approaching. She afforded him only a brief look.

Cinder paid neither of them any mind. "Then you understand why," she said evenly, remaining vague in order to test what he really knew.

Since he had only the name, Opher needed another curveball. "Either Salem kills you for failing, or I kill you for trying. That's an awfully sticky spot," he said with a smile. A quick examination of Cinder's lack of reaction told him he seemed to be on point with his assessment. "But like I told her," he added, nodding back toward Emerald. "I'm not gonna kill you. Our interests currently align."

"Do they really?" Cinder replied. At last, she felt the lingering, frigid grip of Opher's spirit fully depart; that void was filled in a heartbeat by the familiar gnawing of the Fall Maiden's shattered power.

"Yeah. Ozpin has something I want."

Her inkling about why Opher had been suddenly banned from Beacon seemed to be proving true. He and the headmaster must have had an argument. Guessing about what distracted Cinder for but a moment. She abruptly remembered something else Opher had said a long time ago. "You mentioned hating the Academy," she said, the fires in her palms waning. "Why?"

Wondering how she knew this would be a question for later; in the meantime, Opher opened himself up to the dread that had plagued him the first few times he'd ever visited Beacon. On a whim, he decided to hit Cinder with the whole truth. "Not the place itself, but what it represented. You must know how Atlas works. If enough people in positions of authority find out about me, you can just imagine what would happen. I'm sure technology has advanced far enough to contain me for at least a _while_. I don't want to be somebody's science experiment, even if I know I can escape eventually."

The flames in Cinder's hands suddenly went out altogether. Emerald blinked at the shift in her demeanor and looked between her and Opher a few times. "Ma'am?" she said. "Are you-"

"A fight would have started by now," she said. "Put away your arms."

"Oh, _now_ we're all gonna make nice." Mercury, still suffering from the brief thrashing Opher had given him, waved weakly and pointed to a nearby tree. "If anyone needs me, I'll be sitting over there," he added while starting off. A few of his muscles were still twitching from the shock he'd gotten. "Damn, Emmy, you weren't kidding about the lightning crap, were you?"

"Sucks, doesn't it?" While Emerald obeyed and holstered her revolvers, she went to Cinder's side and refused to leave it. "Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Splendid." Cinder flipped her hair over her shoulder as she eyed Opher. "What adjustments to the agreement did you have in mind?"

Thankfully, he'd used the chance to digest their engagement and put some thought to that end. "You're clearly up to something big, if your equipment is any indication," he noted, nodding down at her glove. "It must have been a lot of work to get this far. So I won't interfere or accidentally kill any of you… on two conditions."

"Name them," a steely-eyed Cinder replied.

Opher folded his arms and looked away. "First, try to leave Indigo out of it. Second, you make damn sure Ozpin knows that I knew about this whenever it goes down."

Both women were perplexed by his second request to various degrees. The thief got over her confusion first. "Is the first one something we can even promise?" she whispered to her mistress.

Cinder, brow furrowed in thought, glanced away. "Hmm." She decided it wouldn't hurt to ask. "I have no issue with the second request, but what if I cannot ensure her safety?"

"Then I can't ensure yours, either," he stated with chilly eyes.

"A pity." A new flame lit itself in Cinder's right palm as she brought it up. "It would be so much more convenient for my purposes to kill Indigo Stahl than be forced to plan around her." She clenched a fist and snuffed out that fire.

Ensuring Ozpin's enmity was beginning to outshine all his other concerns; at this point, even the iron concept of Indigo's well-being started to fray at the edges. He hadn't quite lost all his conscience yet, but a twisted grin bent Opher's lips as he decided to play hardball. "Just like it would be so much easier for me to attack Ozpin head-on. But wouldn't that put all of his forces on high alert? And with Ironwood and his troops here, that would make sneaking and carrying out your conspiracy around so very difficult."

"You don't have the balls to strike Beacon," Emerald shot back. "Or you would have-" She glanced over when Cinder looked her way. "Ma'am?"

Something in Opher's words triggered what remained of the memories his Aura had left behind in her heart. "Do not be so sure." The picture in her head at the moment was of a ruined village in a snowy valley. It was by far the clearest picture in a sea of smeared thoughts. "You have been cornered before. Atlas still remembers what you did, even if they don't know the true cause."

Opher spoke more frankly than he had in many years. "Yeah, you get it. Think of Indigo as a handy distraction. Do you really wanna see what happens when I fully give a shit?" He took a moment to straighten his hat. "You can agree standing up, or you can agree after I'm done beating the hell out of you. If you think you're gonna stop me from doing that, well, you have some serious short-term memory issues. What is it gonna be?"

Emerald drew her guns again in response to Opher's threat, but Cinder didn't react at all. She might have wanted to bury him, now more than ever, but Salem's goals had to come first. To this end, she tried a new tactic. "Why not work _with_ us?" she asked, her voice abruptly sweetening. "Whatever disagreement you found with Ozpin, you will not face with Her. I am certain She would appreciate your skills."

"Ha!" Opher regarded her with mild amusement. "What could you possibly offer me?"

Cinder viewed him much the same way, though her smile bore a darker tinge. "What about Indigo? I'd be more inclined to look after her to satisfy an associate. A… partner." Her expression grew dour as Opher's amusement only seemed to increase. "Is that funny?"

Opher's playful expression disappeared. "If you could promise her an infinite number of tomorrows, I might actually consider it," he replied morosely. "But I sincerely doubt you could."

It was as fragile as Cinder and Emerald had ever seen him, and the former seized on it immediately. "If you only knew the extent of Her power," she said with a light shrug. "With Her blessing, _all_ things are possible."

"What? How can Salem make Indigo im..." He trailed off in the face of Cinder's wicked smile and glanced at Emerald just to break eye contact. An unhappy noise escaped through his clenched teeth.

Sensing weakness, Cinder applied the screws with a gleeful sparkle in her eyes. She drew on the awful sensation that accompanied his Aura and shivered involuntarily. "You must be so lonely. Wouldn't it be nice to have the company of a friend who would always be there?" The way Opher slumped on his feet was a signal that she finally had him. Cinder continued to press. "She seems to know you, or perhaps know of you. You might have met Her already. Further Her aims and I am _certain_ She would grant you such a small favor in return." A subtle nod at Emerald had the thief putting away her revolvers once again. "Take your time," she added, walking toward Opher with the intent of moving past him and toward where Mercury sat. "After all, you seem to have plenty to spare."

"Yeah," he muttered. When she got even with his shoulder, his gray Aura flared up. A second later, his left fist plowed into her cheek. The blow sent Cinder skidding across the red grass for several yards. Emerald quickly opened fire on him again, but Opher focused on her mistress as the woman got to her feet.

"How dare you!" she shouted, her hands engulfed in fire as she charged Opher down. When Cinder attempted to pay back his punch in kind with a fiery straight of her own, it felt like hitting a statue. Before she could withdraw her hand and try again, he grabbed her wrist. "Release me!" she demanded, trying to yank her arm free.

Opher gripped her so tightly his knuckles turned white; he yanked her off the ground and put his other hand around her throat. "Nah," he stated, electricity arcing from his flesh into hers.

Emerald, guns silenced for fear of hitting Cinder, opted to hack at Opher with her kama blades. "Let her go!" she shrieked. When the steel made contact with him, it conducted the voltage into her body as well. The force knocked her onto her back and left her breathless.

"Dense little fucker, aren't you," he sneered at her while continuing to pump Cinder full of electricity. He only shut off the flow when she went limp in his grasp. "You're kind of a bitch," he added, letting her drop to the ground and slamming his shoe into her chest.

With both hands, Cinder latched onto his ankle and used what little sense she still had to try and copy his attack. Her lightning danced crazily across his skin at first, only to be dissipated when the flame-like tongues of his gray Aura made contact with the ground. Next, she tried to shove his foot off, but couldn't move it. Her arms fell to her sides as waves of pain washed over her.

"That's what I thought." Opher detected Mercury's approach out of the corner of his eye and pointed at him. "Don't start with me."

"Maybe you should get your foot off of my boss, then," he said, launching into a series of wild kicks, some of which he chained together on twirling, splayed-leg handstands. With the precise application of wind Dust, he gathered the rounds fired from his boots into a swirling cluster that he directed down at his target from above. Unfortunately, Opher did exactly the same thing with a far stronger breeze, hurling all of his ammunition back at him with the simple sweep of his tattooed arm. "Damn it!" he yelled, stomping the ground and firing himself skyward. After a second, though, the rounds stopped chasing him. He landed with a thud and watched them snake their way toward Opher.

"Man, weapons these days," Opher commented, the train of Dust bullets changing direction with every movement of his finger. "No wonder nobody wants to fight hand-to-hand anymore." He finally pointed at Cinder's head and sent the rounds right at her face. The woman barely had time to cross her arms over her head before the ammunition arrived and exploded on contact.

Emerald hauled herself upright just in time to witness the explosion. Startled, she almost fell backward again; Mercury's hand stopped her from toppling. As he helped her up, they gazed blankly at the smoke that obscured Opher and Cinder. "Did he…?" she asked her partner.

They didn't have long to hold on to that question. A fierce wind dispersed the smoke, revealing that for all the sound and show, nothing had changed. Opher still had his foot on Cinder's chest, and she was still alive. He peered down at her through a hateful smirk. "My terms are my terms. Accept them or die. Real simple. Oh, and by the way, if you're thinking about going after Indigo just to spite me, I wouldn't. That would get you my _full_ fucking attention." He removed his foot from Cinder's chest, turned his back on them, and walked away into the forest.

Once he'd gotten out of sight, they darted over to check on their mistress. While Cinder didn't seem too badly hurt, the anger on her face was breathtaking. Emerald was wont to touch her or even get too close while the woman was this mad. A fearless Mercury, however, offered Cinder a hand up which she eventually accepted. She produced her Scroll to see if still worked; upon seeing it did, she swiped open an app and began typing.

"Ma'am?" Emerald said uncertainly.

"Quiet." Cinder's fingers danced as she wrote down what was left of Opher's lingering memories. So deep was her concentration that she couldn't help but dictate to herself in whispered tones. "Rainbow light… Kasserine Pass… soldiers… Mantle's flag," she muttered, her thoughts disjointed by an effort to get as much written as quickly as possible. "Maidens…" Her digits slowed, then stopped as she looked off in thought. "Why does he know so many Maidens?"

A flash of white light caught their eyes, but Cinder went back to work an instant later. "Shorty!" Mercury chirped at the returning Neo. "We could have used your help." She shook her head at him. "You were watchin', huh? Yeah, I don't think I woulda jumped in either." He rubbed his forehead and sighed.

Emerald nodded at this with a frown. "Yeah, it would have been nice if you could have shifted us out of here. What happened?" The thief had to wait on a text message for an explanation. "Oh. I didn't know being in disguise for that long was a drain on you. I get it. I guess you had no choice but to lay low."

"Yeah, well, next time I'll hide in the bushes and you can do all the fighting." Mercury tried to stretch some relief into his tense shoulders. "I don't think I like that guy when he gets mad." He looked over as Cinder snapped her Scroll shut. "What's up?"

"We will see what She says about what I've learned," Cinder stated coldly. Walking proved difficult at first, but she powered through her misery on bitter strides. "Until then, we wait."

As Cinder's minions fell in behind her, a brilliant, mushroom-shaped plume of red and yellow flames erupted from the forest about a mile or two ahead of them. Seconds later, the shock wave and noise of the explosion arrived. While a surprised Emerald and Neo were caught unprepared by its force, Mercury and Cinder managed to stay upright by crouching against the rush of air. "What the hell?" he gasped before looking back at Cinder and the others. "Hey, Emmy, stop falling over!" he joked.

"Oh, fuck off!" she snapped in reply, kicking herself to her feet. "What _was_ that?"

"I…" Mercury realized that Opher had gone that way and stared at the towering cloud of dark smoke. "...don't think I want to know."

* * *

 

Opher paid no mind to the burning forest around him, nor to the shrieking Grimm that ran by with flames embracing their black flesh. Cinder had touched a nerve about his loneliness; the more he thought about her words, the more frustrated he'd become until his temper exploded in more ways than one. Gray Aura swirled around him slowly until settling on a human shape and draping its arms over his shoulders like a jealous lover. "Oh, get lost," he snapped at it. "This was the plan all along, wasn't it? You wanted me to get attached to Indigo so I'd have a reason to live." It refused to release him until he made a conscious effort to stuff it back into its usual invisible form. The longer he stared into the fire, the more his emotions settled down. What he knew about both sides led him to one conclusion: "There's gonna be a war here, isn't there?"

Off he went, striding through the inferno and deep in thought. Whatever Cinder had in mind was much larger than he first suspected. Conspiracies that size, however, depended on too many factors to be successful. What he'd seen of her help didn't instill much confidence either. He needed a backup plan. Maiden or not, Cinder herself wouldn't suffice, especially not in her present incomplete state. Even at full strength, Opher had serious doubts about her ability to test him. Ozpin seemed like his only option. Therefore, if Cinder failed, he would need to take matters into his own hands.

That thought surprised him. "It's been too long since I've had a decent fight," he admitted lowly. Ozpin certainly seemed capable of delivering one. Opher came to a stop and rubbed his chin. Perhaps actively assisting Cinder wouldn't be such a bad idea. "I mean…" No. His heart wasn't really in it. Or was that his Aura talking? Opher could no longer be sure.

Then it hit him. If Cinder was being truthful about the extent of Salem's power, then he _did_ have another option. How would he attract Her wrath? Killing Cinder and her associates seemed to be one way. The prospect put a big smile on his face. "Of course," he breathed. "Nothing really changes for now. I just let them fight it out. If Ozpin wins, he gets to be mad at me for knowing about her plan and not stopping it. If Cinder and those idiots win, I get to kick their asses all over Vale until Salem comes and stops me."

All well and good, but Opher began to wonder about the wider fight. Ozpin likely had friends in every conceivable high place; likewise, Cinder and her team couldn't have been Salem's only soldiers. Whatever might come to Vale certainly wouldn't be limited to it. If another world war broke out, he'd have no choice but to return home to protect the secret of his sacred valley. Opher's first chance to die in centuries might also be his last for centuries more. The idea put a dour scowl on his face. "I wish I knew what she was after," he muttered, thinking about Cinder again. "What's in Vale that would be interesting to a part-Maiden anyway?"

Then it hit him. Why had Ozpin suddenly banned him from Beacon? His history with the Maidens was relatively ancient; the headmaster wouldn't keep him away unless he felt there existed a present threat to one. "Wait a second." Opher shed his hat and looked at the sky as the pieces began to fall into place. Cinder had a weapon that could suck the Aura out of someone. Cinder was also a partial Maiden. "She's looking for the rest!" he exclaimed, eyes lighting up, "and Ozpin has it!" No wonder he'd been kicked off campus. Ozpin didn't want him anywhere near the damaged Maiden he was currently harboring. This changed things a little. Cinder's victory meant a Maiden under Salem's control. Opher had never encountered a genuinely evil bearer of the gift before. He suspected the nature of the power itself stood at odds with such emotion. That was only more proof to him that Cinder had stolen it.

Despite his sudden grasp of the stakes, one thing remained the same. No matter which side won, or how far the battle spread, Opher needed to be ready. While Vale's wall loomed in the moonlight ahead, just barely visible through the trees, he turned away from it and headed back into the forest. The Grimm might not be a threat to him, but killing every monster he could find would pass as decent enough training for now. After all, if they proved incapable of fulfilling his ultimate wish, there would be a hell of a mess for Opher to clean up when the fight ended.

Even as he went, however, the idea of an immortal companion continued to taunt him. No, Opher realized, not just a companion; Ozpin could count for that. What he was truly thinking of was an immortal Indigo. "Damn it," he muttered, cursing himself for getting attached again. "This wouldn't be so hard if she didn't look so much like mom."

* * *

 

Qrow Branwen had no immediate answer for what he saw jutting up from the red expanse of Forever Fall. Gigantic ice spires, gleaming in the morning sun, pierced the crimson woods in an area about four square miles in total. What proved just as interesting to Qrow was the conspicuous lack of Grimm in the sector. "Hey, what's up with those?" he asked one of the soldiers riding in the Bullhead with him.

"You got me," she shrugged, tilting her head to look out the open bay doors. "Central Command recalled our unit to investigate 'em. That's why we were able to give you a lift to Vale in the first place."

"Huh." Qrow ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair as the icy spikes retreated into the distance. "I think it's a little early for winter." Then he caught the column of smoke rising from the forest ahead. "Something's on fire, by the way," he pointed out.

The female soldier shrugged again. "Yeah, we know. That's part of why we're out here, too."

A few minutes later, the Bullhead alighted on an airship pad at one of Vale's northernmost military posts and allowed its passengers to disembark before immediately taking off again. Qrow watched it fly for a moment before producing his Scroll. "This oughta be fun," he mumbled, reluctantly pushing the power button. Messages arrived in the dozens the moment it powered on. "Serves me right for skulking around in the sticks." He swiped down the list and started walking; nearly three minutes of scrolling went by before he finally reached the end of the backlog. At first, the messages were mundane enough, but toward the end their frequency increased. He then noticed the message about an apparent incursion on the Beacon campus. A frowning Qrow stopped in his tracks. "Terrific. Guess I'd better make sure the place is still standing."

After a cursory check to see how many people were paying attention, Qrow put away his Scroll, shed his human form, and turned into a red-eyed crow. He hopped about, waiting for a decent updraft before spreading his wings and taking to the sky. As Vale dropped away beneath him, he looked toward the east for Beacon's tower and made a beeline for it once sighted.

* * *

 

Even at full speed, Qrow needed some time to cover this distance, but it beat waiting for another Army Bullhead to do the work. By the time he came to rest in the branches of one of the water oaks on the edge of campus, Qrow needed a breather. He thought briefly about paying his nieces a visit, but decided against it; after all, they were probably preparing for the tournament and he didn't want to be _too_ much of a distraction. With that settled, he flew out of the tree and straight up to the windows of Ozpin's office, where he tapped on the glass with his beak before returning to his normal form.

It took a few moments for the headmaster to walk over and let him in. "I wasn't aware you had returned," he said with a light smile.

A grinning Qrow strode by with his hands behind his head. "I ain't been back long. Saw all the messages and thought I'd drop in. See what's goin' on."

"You've missed an eventful few days, I'm afraid." Ozpin returned to the chair at his desk and motioned for Qrow to take a seat as well. "Should I bring you up to speed?"

"If you wouldn't mind. Beats reading all these," he said, waving his Scroll.

Ozpin clasped his hands before speaking. "Very well. Long story short, someone penetrated CCT tower security Sunday night. We do not know whom, nor why."

"Damn." Qrow produced a silver flask, from which he took two sips. "You think it's related to the breach?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, but I have nothing firm on that front yet." The headmaster took up his own Scroll for a moment. "I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that your favorite General was put in charge of festival security as a result of all of this."

Qrow let loose an exaggerated groan as he rolled his eyes. "What, the Council doesn't trust you anymore?" He followed this with a dismissive snort and looked to the side. "If they only knew."

"It was a request from the King. My hands are tied." Ozpin handed his Scroll across the desk to Qrow. "This is our other problem."

"Eh?" He straightened up to look and found the dead-eyed passport picture of Opher staring back. "Hey, this is the guy from the news, isn't it? So he's with us." Qrow burst out laughing upon reading his name. "Like Gopher?" he choked out at length. "Are you serious?" Ozpin's grave silence shut him up. "Apparently you are. What's his story?"

"We're still looking, but what we know so far is attached."

Qrow looked down at the screen again and noticed a related document on the right side. What he found therein caused him to stand up with surprise. While the summary didn't contain Opher's run-ins with past Maidens, it did detail his extensive lifespan so far as the archivists could trace it. Qrow paced around the office while reading on. "I'm sorry, how old is this guy supposed to be? Twenty-four? What's going on here?"

Ozpin steepled his fingers and frowned. "A very good question. Does the Queen perhaps have more knights than we think?"

"If Salem had _this_ , I'd have heard about him." Qrow handed back the Scroll and crossed his arms. "Seems like it'd be pretty hard to hide an immortal pawn, you know. In fact, they'd be bragging about it. Using him wherever they could. He ain't one of theirs."

"'Pawn' is not a word I'd use to describe Mister Riese." Pouring a fresh cup of coffee, Ozpin added, "Come to think of it, at times he seems about as brusque as you."

"Thanks for the…" Qrow glanced around, unable to decide the right word. "Compliment?"

Ozpin allowed himself a tiny smile. "Close enough, I suppose. What have you been up to? As of late you've been a hard man to find. Anything to report?"

His voice got low. "Something weird's been going on in Mistral, but you know how CCT coverage is out in the swamp. I dropped everything and came back when I heard about the breach. Figured you might need a hand," Qrow explained as he took his seat again. "I dunno how far I trust Haven's new headmaster. She's twitchy."

"Hmm. Twitchy, or perhaps overwhelmed? You were too, once upon a time."

He countered Ozpin's contemplative gaze with another sip from his flask. "The way she acts… I can't put my finger on it, Oz, but it doesn't sit right."

"Duly noted. Perhaps I'll have a chat with her later today." He cocked a brow as Qrow took another drink. "How on Remnant do you manage to keep that thing filled?"

He cracked a wry grin. "Come on, now, I can't give away all of my secrets." And then his smile ran away. "How is Amber?"

It was Ozpin's turn to stand; he turned his back on Qrow to gaze at the morning sky. "Same as ever, I'm afraid. James has tried every piece of technology he can think of, but I fear the damage is irreparable. We will need a more permanent custodian of her power. A Guardian, if you will."

"Got anyone in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Ozpin glanced up at the intricate clockwork above just as the time ticked over to 8:30. "And she should be getting in touch with our ageless troublemaker right about now."

"Huh?" Qrow's head tilted as the headmaster brought up a screen with Pyrrha's Beacon ID photo and file. "A Nikos, huh? We're aiming pretty damn high."

"Half-measures will not suffice. She has the skill, the talent, and most importantly, the disposition. The power is unstable, afraid. I feel her soul is gentle enough to calm its terror, while being strong enough to provide it refuge."

"If you say so." A restless Qrow got to his feet and stretched. "We don't have long. The festival would be a good time to pull something big, and you and I both know that Roman Torchwick can't be the head of the snake in Vale."

"Indeed. I'll let you get back to… observing." Ozpin motioned to the still-open window. "Would you rather fly, or use the elevator?" he asked with a little smirk.

"Heh, I'll walk for once." Qrow fell in with the headmaster and headed for the doors at the far end. "By the way, you hear about Forever Fall?"

"It came up when I spoke to James earlier, yes. Neither of us are sure what happened, but Grimm activity in that sector has dropped off dramatically." His lips pursed in thought. "I have my suspicions."

"Don't you always?" Both men came to a stop as the elevator doors opened and Glynda stepped out. "Glynda! You're lookin' lovely as always."

She peered at him over the rims of her glasses. "Mister Branwen. That's the tamest line I've heard from you in months. When did you arrive?"

Qrow flashed her a toothy grin. "Couple of hours ago. Had to catch a ride into Vale. The old man over here was getting me up to speed."

"I see." Her attention also went to Ozpin. "The media has gotten wind of the incident in Forever Fall and they're starting to ask questions. I assumed you'd want to coordinate with Central Command before giving out any answers."

The headmaster nodded a confirmation. "Thank you, Glynda. I'll speak with the Public Affairs Office as soon as I'm done here."

"Of course. Before you do, however…" Glynda trailed off and showed Ozpin something on her open Scroll. "This surveillance footage was taken from the Northern Wall at about 2:00 AM."

"Ah, Mister Riese," he said, watching Opher sneak around at the top of the wall before dropping down off of it and into the city below. "Perhaps that explains a few things."

Qrow also took a peek at the footage. "I'm gonna go check this guy out," he said, running a hand through his hair. "You got an address?"

"Yes, provided you avoid getting into a fight with him."

Ozpin's condition brought a smirk to Qrow's face. "Aw, you don't think I'd do that, do ya?" His smile was met with blank-faced seriousness. "All right, all right, I'll behave," he relented, slipping in another sip from his flask before adding, "Probably."

"Qrow…" Glynda warned, her eyes narrowing.

He waved her ire away and kept on grinning. "Come on, he won't even know I'm there. Unless he likes murdering birds, I'll be fine."

Glynda leaned closer to Ozpin, her voice low. "Should we tell him about…" Then it dropped in volume so much that Qrow couldn't hear the rest of her sentence.

The headmaster didn't bother to muffle his reply. "She's going to tell him when she sees him regardless. We might as well."

"Tell me what?" Qrow asked, eying them both. "She? Ruby or Yang or both? What happened?"

"Bring up the recording, Glynda." Once she had it on her Scroll, Ozpin took it and watched for a moment before letting Qrow hold the device.

What he saw was Yang's skirmish with Opher. Engrossed, Qrow walked away as the fight unfolded on the screen. "Come on, kid," he mumbled to himself. His brow furrowed with her every miss. "He's quick, I'll give him that." Then his niece slugged the lanky man right in the chest with no apparent effect. "Uh… what?" Now he was catching all of her blows. When Opher unleashed the Dust-assisted attack that startled Yang out of her Semblance, Qrow stopped watching and returned Glynda's Scroll. "He's no joke, is he?" It was Ozpin's turn again to show him something: the full archive file about Opher. "What's-" Qrow fell silent upon seeing the laundry list of Maidens that had met Opher in one form of battle or another. To this he had no response.

"It is entirely possible that when the order's founders were thinking of the Maidens' security, it was Opher, just as much as Salem, that spurred them on," Ozpin stated after a few moments.

"Does he know about Amber?" Qrow asked once he'd shaken off his surprise.

"No. And I've no plans to tell him."

"We're not entirely clear about whose side Mister Riese is on," Glynda added. "Or what he might know about goings-on behind the scenes."

Qrow turned on his heel, his ragged red cape swinging out as he walked away. "Well, you all sit back and let me figure that out. You've got a festival to keep safe. After all, snoopin' around is what I do best."


	22. Chapter 22

"So, you plan on telling us what's been bothering you?"

Pyrrha snapped her green eyes up to Jaune before her gaze wandered to her friends across the table, where Ruby and Yang had ceased eating with questioning looks. Blake seemed too absorbed in her book to have picked up on the shift in topics. Weiss hadn't yet made her way through the dinner rush. The redhead's glances went to Nora and Ren, whose faces, like Jaune's, each held some measure of worry. "Nothing is-" she began to lie, only for it to fail halfway out of her throat. She fell silent and stared into her lap.

"You've been acting super-weird since this morning," Nora said through a mouthful of food. The mere utterance of that sentence sparked an idea in her head. "Hey, didn't you check up on O-"

"I do that _every_ morning," Pyrrha interjected with an anxious smile. "Except… hmm."

Yang waved to get their collective attention. "What's that mean? Did we miss something?"

"Well…" Pyrrha noted the amount of other people sitting nearby. It seriously dampened her willingness to divulge anything. The air became stuffy; she gave her a collar a little tug and sighed. "Do we have to do this here?"

"Yep, we totally missed something," Ruby confirmed. Weiss' arrival made her look up. "Just in time!"

"Dare I ask for what?" the heiress said caustically as she sat down.

"Pyrrha's pulling a Blake." Yang cracked a smile as her partner finally acknowledged the outside world. "What's up? You might wanna hear this."

"Hear what?" Blake noted the focus on Pyrrha and blinked. "Oh." She marked her page and set aside the book.

The redhead wilted under their expectant gazes and looked away. "Fine, but when we get back to the dorms. Please?"

Weiss shrugged and started to eat. "Suits me. My food is getting cold."

"You just got it, how can it be-" Yang's face went blank for an instant before a grin appeared. "Are you making a joke?" The pointed stare she received softened her grin faintly. "Guess not."

"Not everything is a pun, Yang."

"Anyway," Ruby cut in before they could ignite any disagreement, "I've been thinking-"

"Oh boy, this should be good."

Ruby fired a brief glare at her sister before continuing. "We've got some downtime before the tournament, right? Shouldn't we be looking into, you know," she said, motioning oddly, "the _tunnel_ thing?"

"It's been pretty quiet ever since," Blake noted. "Is any further investigation really necessary?"

"I don't know… that wretched man has a point. The scope of the crime doesn't really fit Torchwick," Weiss said, rubbing her chin in thought. "And why wouldn't the White Fang follow up on it?" While she expected Blake to look a bit uncomfortable, Pyrrha's awkwardness was a surprise. "What's the matter?"

"Uh… well?" was all she had to offer in return.

Ruby noted Pyrrha's awkward reaction to Weiss's first statement and covered her eyes with one hand. "Oh god, it's about him again isn't it?"

Now Blake looked not only uneasy, but just plain _mad_. Yang gave her a gentle nudge. "Are you all right over there?"

"I was," she stated evenly.

"Oh boy." Jaune nodded to his team, then at the door. "Look, we'll just meet you back at our room and talk about it there, okay?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Pyrrha sighed with relief.

Ruby waved at JNPR as they stood and left as one, but her smile faded as they got farther away. "Gee, I wonder what Op-" An involuntary snort stopped her briefly. "-he did now."

"I'm not entirely sure I care," Blake replied coldly, her eyes glittering with annoyance.

* * *

 

Her mood hadn't changed much by the time RWBY arrived at their dorm twenty minutes later. JNPR's door was open, but only Yang entered it right away. "They'll just be a second," she explained, nodding back toward the hallway. "I guess Blake's coming too. I guess." Their expressions gave the blonde some pause; Jaune, especially, seemed uneasy about something. "What?"

"We're just trying to figure out what happened after we left the amphitheater, 'cause…" He trailed off and rubbed his neck. "It can wait until everyone gets here, I guess."

"Skinny boy is in trooooouble," Nora sang lowly.

Yang glanced at her with a curious "Huh?", the only word she could utter before her sister and Weiss arrived.

Blake entered a few seconds later, looking grumpier than ever. "Who did he kill this time?" she snapped, her voice dagger-sharp despite being hardly louder than a whisper.

"I tried to call him this morning and he wouldn't answer. I asked Professor Ozpin what to do, and…" Pyrrha looked away with a grave frown. "Something happened after we left the combat class, because Professor Ozpin kicked him out of Beacon and won't let him back in." A chilly silence followed as everyone digested her words.

"Good riddance," Blake whispered under her breath, breaking that pall.

" _Why_?" Ruby finally asked. Recalling the scene they'd left behind made her silver eyes wide. "Did they have an argument or something?"

Weiss, hands on her hips, looked at Pyrrha with a confused scowl. "Were you ever able to contact Opher?"

The redhead shrugged helplessly. "No. I don't understand. He just helped save Vale, what could get him in that much trouble?"

Yang glanced around as she tried to think of a reason. None would come. "You don't think he did something _bad_ , do you?"

"I… don't know." She cast a long glance at her weapons, which currently sat on the floor by her feet, before asserting what she really felt. "Yes. I do. Professor Ozpin doesn't seem like the type to overreact."

"True," Ruby said with a nod. "I mean, he's kinda cool for a teacher. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere near Mountain Glenn if he hadn't bent the rules for us."

"Which nearly got us killed," Weiss pointed out.

"Ah, come on. We had it covered." Ruby lost her smile a moment later, however. "It was a little scary, though."

Yang had no wish to think too long about their adventure; Neo's smug face dominated those thoughts too much. In her rush to mentally change the subject, something pertinent popped up. "Hey, I just thought of something." She produced her Scroll and tapped at its screen briefly. "Hold on… here it is. 'Army finds no foul play in wildfire, strange ice formations spotted in Forever Fall'," she said, reading the headline. "Check it out, there's a picture."

Everyone leaned in to catch a glimpse of the image of the icy spikes that towered above the crimson trees. "That definitely looks like his work," Jaune said. "Man, those look even bigger than the one he trapped us in underground."

"I thought he was trying to be incognito," Yang wondered to herself. "I mean, he must have held back a lot yesterday. Nothing about _this_ is low-key. It's almost like he's showing off. Hold on a sec-huh…" Unread messages in her text app caused her to trail off; these turned out to be from Indigo. "Indigo hasn't been able to get in touch with him either," she stated after skimming a few of them. Her brow furrowed as she put the device away. "Yeah, something's up."

"Is he showing off, or sending a message?" a frowning Weiss asked. "Pyrrha has a point. Unless… you don't think he had something to do with the breach and the Professor found out, do you?"

Jaune scratched his head and blinked. "If that's the case, why not just arrest him?"

Ruby, pacing around and rubbing her chin, emitted a few thoughtful noises. "He sure didn't _act_ like he knew what was going on," she stated at length. "I think something else happened. I just can't figure out what."

"There's one way to get an answer." Blake's chilly words drew everyone's attention. Hers was focused on the other members of her team. "Yang is right; something clearly changed. If he knows _anything_ about the breach, we need to know about it too."

"Yeah! By the way, uh, are you still mad that I told…?" Ruby trailed off when Blake shook her head once. "Oh. Okay. Good."

"You made the best of a bad situation," Blake reassured her with a little smile. "Who's with me?" she asked the rest of the crowd.

Yang appeared to be the most concerned of the bunch. "Hold on, you're not doing this just because Opher accused you of being a coward, are you?"

Blake locked eyes with her partner. "Does it matter?"

She stared right back with folded arms. "I'm just sayin', he might be pretty pissed off and I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Weiss snorted at the blonde as she moved toward JNPR's open door. "Since when are you worried about starting a fight?"

"I'm looking out for my team, Miss Smarty Skirt." Yang cast an expectant look at her sister. "Your call, Ruby."

"Speaking of calls… couldn't we try calling him?" Ruby said, wiggling her open Scroll. "Maybe he'll answer us this time."

Behind her, Pyrrha engaged in some whispering with her leader. When this concluded, Jaune burst Ruby's hopeful bubble as he stood. "Pyrrha tried a couple of times just before you guys got here. He's not picking up."

"Awwww…" Ruby sighed, putting the device away. "All right, then. Let's do it. Not like we've got anything else to do anyway, right?"

"I'm in too!" Nora chirped, her hand shooting up.

"You never say no to anything," Ren said with a smile.

"Excuse you, I say no to lots of stuff. Like your kelp-wrapped waffles. Uggggh."

"I stand corrected," he said, raising his hands with a smile. "You never say no to anything that gives you a chance to break something."

"I'm going too." Pyrrha grabbed her sword and shield and nodded at Team RWBY. "Jaune?"

"Aaaaah, well…" He rocked awkwardly on his feet for but a moment before groaning. "I'd be a pretty bad leader if I said no. Besides, I've got a bone to pick with him about the way he _froze you to the floor_."

Pyrrha stared at him blankly. "Jaune, that's sweet and all, but please don't die trying to defend my honor."

"Oh, I'm not. We're gonna talk. Like gentlemen. And if he gets mad, well-"

"I'm gonna whack him!" Nora cheered, raising Magnhild over her head.

"Heh. If that's the case, you might need to hit him more than once," Yang said, making her way toward the door.

By the time they reached his apartment building, however, even Blake's fervor about the meeting had cooled. They stood across the street and stared up at the block in awkward silence. "I don't remember which apartment is his," Yang said. "Third floor… uh…" Each lit window got a look. "What if he's not even home?"

"One of us should check." Weiss stepped away from the group before turning to look at it. "Someone fast."

Ruby slumped on her feet with a groan. "You're really gonna make _me_ do it?"

"Hey, you're the one that calmed everything down last time," Yang noted with a smile. "You might be the only one of us Opher doesn't actually hate."

"Come on, he doesn't _hate_ any of us!" she shot back.

An incredibly awkward Pyrrha clasped her hands and gazed into space. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Ruby screwed up her courage, gave Crescent Rose a pat just to ensure it was still there, and checked the street for traffic. "All right, fine. If I'm not back in five minutes, he probably ate me. Call the cops." Once assured that the road was clear, she twisted into a red spiraling smear that flashed across the pavement and ended up right at the front door. With one last wave to her team and friends, she walked inside. "It'll be fine," she mumbled to herself, finding Opher's name and heading upstairs. "No problem. I can handle this. All he did was kill a bunch of White Fang barehanded and stop literally thousands of Grimm from destroying Vale. This is totally a fair fight." She couldn't stop the nervous laughter that came next. "Oh boy."

Despite her nerves, Ruby found Opher's door and knocked thrice before stepping back and waiting with one hand on her weapon, just in case. A few seconds later, he opened it and looked down at her. "This better be important. I'm about to leave," he said sternly.

Even his demeanor seemed different; gone was the indifferent man she'd seen before, replaced by someone who oozed purpose and intensity. Ruby subtly moved her hand closer to the release switch on Crescent Rose's harness. She decided to push her luck just a bit. "Heard you got kicked off of campus," she said with an inappropriately bright smile. "I mean… that sounds like I'm happy you got kicked off of campus, which I'm totally not! I'm just-"

"You heard right," Opher said, reaching out of sight behind the door frame and grabbing his hat off the rack. After he put it on, he stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. "Pyrrha must be around here, right?"

"She's outside," Ruby said, instinctively putting a little more space between herself and Opher as he walked past and toward the stairs. "Uh… I'm not done." He continued to ignore her. "Excuse me! I want to know what the heck is going on here!" she snapped. "Why did Professor Ozpin…" While she'd gotten his attention, Ruby immediately regretted her success; Opher regarded her with a dead-eyed, silent gaze.

He used the tense standoff as a chance to weigh how much he still cared about having RWBY and JNPR as backup in case everything went to hell around him. If he died, nothing would matter. If he didn't, it would be more likely they'd be his enemies than his friends at that point anyway. Still, their assistance as far as Indigo was concerned would be one less thing to nag at him. He wouldn't complain about fewer distractions. "If you feel like taking a field trip, I'll tell you," he finally said. "I have some training to do."

Ruby stayed her nervous fingers for now. "Training for what?"

"I guess you'll have to come along and find out, won't you?"

She had no chance to answer before he vanished down the stairs. After a heavy sigh, she yanked out her Scroll and gave Yang a call. "Meet us out front," she said. "We're going… um, somewhere." When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Ruby found her friends in the lobby. They were engaged in a weird staredown with the lanky man; Blake, especially, seemed ready to attack at a moment's notice. Pyrrha looked like she desperately wanted to be anywhere else.

"Of course you brought _everyone_ ," Opher noted flatly. "Why wouldn't you?" Before any of them could respond, he walked through the gathering and waved for them to follow. "Keep up. I don't want to waste time here."

"Where are we goin'?" Yang asked.

"Forever Fall. I've got monsters to slay."

"Oh, so all that ice and stuff _was_ you." The blonde found herself staring at Opher's back as he hesitated at the door. "Is there something you wanna tell us about what happened after we left the amphitheater?"

His green eyes narrowed, but he didn't turn to face her. "You all seem a bit more nervous than usual."

"Can you blame us? I mean, besides the huge terrorist attack we just stopped and you beating up Pyrrha, which kind of wasn't cool by the way," Jaune said, "Then on top of everything else, you suddenly get banned from Beacon? Why? What happened?"

Opher still kept his back to them, but by now a small smile had appeared on his face. If nothing else, this could prove to be a nice chance to vent. "I'll tell you what I told Ruby: if you want answers, then keep up. I got things to do."

With varying levels of enthusiasm, they gave chase. Ruby fell back to walk next to a concerned-looking Pyrrha as they all tailed Opher down the empty sidewalk. "You know him the best, what do you think?" she asked. "Is he acting weird?"

"He certainly does seem… a bit off," she confirmed with a nod.

"Should we be following him, then?" Weiss cut in lowly. "If we end up beyond the wall, alone, that's… pretty dangerous for us."

"Wouldn't be the first time we got ourselves into trouble," Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "Ah, we'll be fine." She cast a glance at a determined Blake. "Besides, I don't think you're gonna back out now, are you?" Her partner simply shook her head. "Yep. Didn't think so. You know I can't just leave Blake hanging."

"Better all of us go than some of us," Pyrrha said, her brow furrowed a little. "We'd stand a better chance. Not that I'm saying he'd…" Except with the way Opher behaved, the redhead couldn't be sure.

As they walked, a red-eyed crow passed overhead through the starry night with wings spread wide.

* * *

 

Seeing the structure from airship-height was one thing, but actually standing on top of the city wall proved to be a different experience entirely. It couldn't have been much shorter than Beacon's mighty cliffs, and like that sheer drop, a huge forest waited at its base. Jaune took one look down and nearly lost his balance. "Why does everything have to be so tall?" he complained to his team. "Any Grimm that could get over this thing can probably just fly."

"That's the point, Jaune," Weiss noted with a roll of her eyes. She looked to their would-be chaperone next. "Well, we're here. Start talking." In response, Opher simply stepped off and plummeted into the darkness. "I swear, that man is the most difficult person on Remnant." When she caught the expressions on the rest of her team's faces, Weiss grumpily crossed her arms. "I know what you're thinking. Stop it."

Ruby stifled a giggle. "I'll go first," she said, unfurling Crescent Rose in her right hand. "Look for my Scroll light." Unfortunately, her boot caught on a seam in the stone. Her intended graceful departure instead became a squealing, tumbling drop. She recovered just before reaching the treetops, but was forced to use her Semblance to dash toward the ground for a more controlled landing. "That could have gone better," she grumbled, her heart pounding in her ears. A quick look around revealed that Opher was nowhere in sight. "Oh, great."

A few moments after Ruby pointed her Scroll at the sky, Yang and Pyrrha landed with impacts solid enough to shake the closest trees. A cheerfully-hooting Nora came next, followed by Weiss and Ren, who'd chosen to run down the side of the wall on a trail of her glyphs. Blake was the last to land, her arrival so quiet that it startled Ruby when the girl came out of nowhere from behind. "Gah! Don't do that!" she scolded.

Blake shrugged an apology before adjusting her bow. "Sorry."

"Uh… where's Jaune?" Yang asked, looking around for him. "I thought he jumped when I did." A sudden rustling of leaves reached their ears from above. "What was that?"

"Little help?" they heard him call. "I'm stuck." Another sharp rustling followed his plea, then his shield fell to the ground. " _Really_ stuck."

"I'll be right back," Pyrrha sighed, moving to assist her leader.

Blake watched her go for a second before turning to Yang and Ruby. "Where is Opher?"

"Dunno." Ruby moved on quiet steps as she searched the trees. "At least there aren't any Grimm around here." There was something, however: a flickering light that she needed to stare at to confirm. "Huh. I think I see a fire?" She ducked with a screech as the severed head of a Beowolf came flying at her. "Oh!" she gasped, looking back at where it landed, then in the direction from which it came. "I guess he went that way…"

"Nora and I will wait for Jaune and Pyrrha," Ren said, gently tapping the head with his shoe as it began to disappear. "She may need our help with getting him down."

"Aw, but I wanna go depac… decip…" Nora fell silent and squinted in frustration. "Ren, what am I trying to say?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Decapitate?"

"Yeah, that."

"I'm glad I'm not a Grimm." He waved at Team RWBY. "We'll catch up."

"Suuure," Ruby said with a too-wide smile. "Let's-" Blake walked past her and into the forest. "Go?"

Upon catching up to her a few minutes later, Ruby realized the light she'd seen was actually a burning tree. Opher stood under it with a bottle of water, apparently examining the flames between drinks. "What happened to JNPR?" he asked upon noticing their arrival.

Yang combed fingers through her hair and smiled. "Jaune happened. They'll be here in a minute. So… what's going on?"

"You know," he said idly before looking directly at Blake, "We're not so different."

Her hand came to rest on the hilt of Gambol Shroud. "Aren't we?" she replied evenly. "Because I'm pretty sure we're _nothing_ alike."

"Maybe, maybe not. But you and I both have… interesting histories." Grimm, reacting to RWBY's anxieties, prowled into the clearing from between the tree trunks. Many of the monsters were only juveniles, but they outnumbered the group by three or four to one. Before the girls could even fully brandish their weapons, Opher extended his left arm up and flattened the beasts into circular, plate-like masses with a series of loud, gut-wrenching pops. "As it turns out, Professor Ozpin didn't care much for my past," he added, ignoring their shocked looks and focusing solely on Blake as he let the crushed monsters drop to the ground. "He thinks I'm dangerous. He's _right_." All the wry dismissal that usually marked his demeanor was nowhere to be found; only bitterness and anticipation remained.

"How in the hell did he do that?" a wide-eyed Yang breathed.

Once again, Opher used the lull to consider his situation. After all, Team RWBY would provide much more of a challenge than the Grimm ever could. Part of him was surprised that he even gave this idea any serious thought. He'd been itching for a fight more than he first believed; it seemed his battle against Cinder hadn't gone far enough in slaking that thirst. A young Griffon walked close by as he pondered; he gave its head an idle pat before Ruby used Crescent Rose to put a Dust round through its skull.

"Did you just _pet_ a Grimm?" Blake snapped with surprise.

"Hmm?" Another, this one an older Beowolf, got close enough for Opher to touch. His petting grew exaggerated as he showed off, realizing that Team JNPR must have kept this particular secret. "I guess I did."

Ruby picked her jaw up off the ground and dispatched this monster with another shot before exclaiming, "That's _literally_ impossible!"

"Explain yourself!" Weiss demanded, pointing Myrtenaster at him. She blinked when Ruby tapped her on the shoulder. "What?"

"I don't think we need to be so, you know, threatening?" she said. A look back forced Ruby to turn away. "Yang, no, put your fists down!"

"Hey, when he stops being scary, _I'll_ stop being scary," she fired back without looking away from Opher.

"I think now is a pretty good time to stop being scary, then," Ruby advised as she saw more dark shapes looming in the trees. "Everyone take a breath. Please?" She groaned when her teammates remained in their ready stances. "Dang it, man." At last, she joined them, twirling Crescent Rose in her right hand before pointing it Opher's way. "I don't wanna do this, you know!"

Opher dismissively flicked the brim of his hat. A moment later, his feet detached from the ground as he began to float before the burning tree. No wind accompanied his rise into the night, leaving Team RWBY confused and even more nervous. "If you've got an aversion to killing, you picked the wrong career," he stated with a grin. He looked up, noting the arrival of two Nevermores that circled overhead like vultures. "Make your choice: you'll either die blind or live with the awful truth," he added, pointing at the increasingly large hordes of Grimm on the ground.

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Yang shouted, realizing too late that her anger would only incense the monsters. The chaotic roar of battle broke out behind them; mixed in among the clash was the sounds of Jaune yelling orders. "Damn it, we gotta do something. They're gonna get overwhelmed."

Ruby clenched her teeth in frustration, but she kept her weapon pointed at Opher. "You all go! I got this!" None of them would move. " _Now_!" she screamed, as fearsome and angry as any of them had ever heard.

While Yang and Blake took their leave, Weiss refused to budge. "Yell at me all you like," she said with a smirk. "I'm used to it." The intensity in Ruby's eyes took her breath away. "Don't look at me-" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Opher raise his tattooed arm. His open palm seemed to be aimed at her partner. "Get down!" she shrieked, snapping one glyph into existence to bounce Ruby aside, then another to launch herself at Opher. Her speed was such that he had no time to react; in the blink of an eye, Myrtenaster's blade sank hilt-deep into his torso. They hung in the air together for what felt like an eternity to her. When he began to slump over forward, a stunned Weiss prepared a glyph to blast them apart.

Before she could deploy it, however, Opher's head snapped up. He grabbed her sword and pushed it deeper into his flesh. "I expected nothing less of a Schnee," he said through a crazy smile. "At least one of you is ready."

"What in god's name…" a horrified Weiss whispered as she tried to wrench her blade free. Her ponytail gently lifted into the air; she was now under Opher's gravity-defying influence. Overcome by terror, she squeezed the trigger and enveloped him in a cloud of fire to force him to let go. When he did, she tore her blade free and fell to the ground just as a screaming Ruby streaked overhead.

Opher waved away the flames just in time to see Crescent Rose's edge curving toward his neck. This proved to be enough of a margin for his defenses to prepare. Her blade sparked off his now-visible Aura; the sudden stop jerked Ruby around awkwardly until she dashed higher with her Semblance and swung down at him again. Tired of the engagement, Opher used a heavy blast of wind to knock Ruby to the ground, then another to keep her from standing up.

By now, JNPR, Yang, and Blake had shown up with an angry tide of Grimm on their heels. The creatures converged on Weiss, who still hadn't collected herself enough to stand, and the dizzied Ruby. Yang shrieked at her sister, though her words were lost to the din of the beasts. Opher gazed blankly at the havoc below. While he was somewhat used to the way JNPR fought, Team RWBY's counterattack was a sight to behold. Their leader became little more than a red and black smear as she slashed her way through the hordes, lopping off heads and limbs with almost every swing. Yang grabbed her by the waist and flung her skyward, where Ruby unloaded with shots from her rifle to give Weiss some breathing room. The heiress used it to lay glyphs in the path of JNPR's retreat that exploded into spiky blooms of ice once they'd run safely past. And there seemed to be multiple copies of Blake wherever Opher looked, if he could see her at all; she darted from tree to ground to tree again, laying an explosive shadow wherever someone needed space to maneuver, or using Gambol Shroud to shred Grimm to ribbons in a few blurry slashes.

Not only were the eight of them capable of bringing the Grimm's advance to a halt, but their combined firepower began to drive the monsters back. Opher's eyes fell upon Pyrrha as she grabbed an exhausted Ren by the shoulder and hurled him backward away from an attacking group of Ursae. For little flashes, the redhead became someone else; an equally-fierce warrior from an ancient time, one of the faces that still haunted him most. "Carmine?" She was Pyrrha again after he rubbed his eyes, though even more intense than when he'd witnessed her fury in the train tunnel. Opher dropped into the center of the fight, which coincidentally led to him being surrounded by the octet of Hunters-in-training. "Enough of this," he mumbled, projecting invisible little threads of his Aura in all directions.

These made contact with them on their way past; every member of RWBY and JNPR reacted at the exact same time to a sensation that felt like a full-body paper cut. It stung enough that each stopped and winced for an instant before returning to the fight at hand. By that time, however, all the Grimm had burst into flames; the surrounding forest, too, began to burn fiercely. "What happened?" Ruby yelled, backing up until she bumped into Opher. Her silver eyes bulged as she looked up at him. "Oh…"

"Weiss? Is this you?" Yang added as she glanced around.

"No!" Like Ruby and her sister, the heiress was forced to back up toward Opher, though she had yet to realize he was standing behind her. "Blake! Where are you?" Though difficult to see through the immense heat haze, a silhouette dropped out of a tree and dashed toward her. "I'll cut you a path!" she shouted, shooting water Dust into the fire that quickly turned to steam. As she struggled to reload her weapon, the nearby Opher caught her eye. While she managed to send another torrent of water into the fire, immediately afterward she prepared to defend herself with Myrtenaster.

Thankfully, this provided just enough of a gap for Blake to pass through. "Why is everything burning?" she gasped before her eyes also fell on Opher.

Nora delivered a rising hammerblow to a dying Griffon as the conflagration forced JNPR to retreat as well. "I think we're kind of trapped…" When she noticed Opher, however, her disposition grew more cheerful. "Hey, skinny! Could you…" The terror on Ruby and Weiss' faces stilled her tongue for a moment. "Uh… what's going on?"

Opher cast a long look at each of their sweaty faces, though he said nothing. Yang was by far the angriest of the bunch, only prevented from from attacking by Pyrrha's grip on her arm. "Yang, no! What are you doing?" The redhead's face marked the other end of the spectrum: uncertainty. It only grew when she saw the rest of Team RWBY react to Opher's presence. "What happened?" she asked. "Ruby? Weiss? What's the matter?"

"How can you touch the Grimm?" Ruby asked, half-crouched and ready to swing Crescent Rose at the slightest provocation from Opher.

"Pretty freaky, right?" Jaune said. He drew back when Yang and Weiss turned to stare at him. "Ohhh, uh… yeah… we saw him do it too, but Professor Ozpin made us keep it a secret."

Ruby glanced back at Jaune for only a moment. "Will _somebody_ explain to us what's going on here?!"

Opher's nerves felt incredibly raw; all he wanted now was to withdraw again. Pyrrha's expectant, but concerned, stare kept him from running. With all the fire surrounding them, it had grown too hot for him to keep wearing his hat. He shed it and raked fingers through his brown hair. "The world is full of things they'll never teach you about in Beacon. Things like me."

His sullen tone took the edge off of their uncertainty, if only a little. "Things like you?" Blake repeated. "You're not a thing."

"Heh." Opher pulled an ice Dust crystal from one of the pockets on his pants and swallowed it dry, wincing several times as it made its way down his throat. "One of the side effects of living for eight thousand years, I guess." he eventually choked out. "It's easier to view myself as an object sometimes."

" _Excuse me_?" Pyrrha blurted out. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"I don't think Weiss is laughing." Opher pointed to the hole in his shirt, then to the heiress' rapier.

"You're immortal," Weiss breathed in shock. "But that's… that's impossible!" When Opher reached toward her, she and the rest of her team prepared to attack him. "Stay back!"

"I just want your sword for a second." He gently placed his fingers on the blade. "I need to prove it to them."

"But-" Weiss jumped and released Myrtenaster when Opher gave her a tiny shock. "Ouch!" she hissed, waving her hand.

He twirled the weapon for a few seconds, examining its build with an idle eye. "The best equipment money can buy, huh?" he remarked, abruptly drawing its edge across his throat. While his flesh split along the path of the cut, not a drop of blood spilled out. Their exclamations of horror failed to put an expression on his blank face. Ruby, Pyrrha and and Jaune were stunned enough to drop their weapons. Opher flipped Myrtenaster in his hand and returned it to Weiss handle-first. "Here you go." By this time, the wound had already begun to seal itself from the edges inward.

Yang stammered an unintelligible series of words that eventually clarified themselves into an explosive "What the _fuck_?!" as she threw her hands up.

Her outburst managed to make Opher smile. "I'd do that from time to time to scare my opponents and stop a fight from even starting. You see, my Semblance used to give me incredible healing power, but at the cost of exhausting my Aura. If I got hit again after I healed, I'd be wounded for days afterward." His gaze became distant. "But in exchange for this power…" He paused here; another invisible prick stung RWBY and JNPR as Opher stretched out his left arm and turned the fiery forest into a frozen, silent graveyard. Everything in sight now bore a thick layer of ice except the small circle in which they stood. "...I gave up everything there was to give." While they gawked in silence, he examined the scope of his handiwork. "Humans drove back the Grimm when they discovered Dust. You've heard that in history class, I'm sure. Well, I _lived_ it. Our village elders could teach us to use it at its maximum efficiency, even better than having it embedded into our flesh. There was a process we could undergo that let us consume it. It would become one with our will."

Only Blake could shake off her amazement enough to speak. "What process?"

Opher thought briefly about the importance of this secret, but as long as he left the where out of his story, it would still be safe. "I say 'teach', but… that's not really how it worked. More along the lines of something you had done to you instead of something you learned." He paused briefly to put his hat back on; when he looked up again, his green eyes shone with exhaustion. "My family's ancestors found a place in the mountains that could give you a temporary boost of Aura These days, they call it Aura compression. Back then, they called it…" What had they called it? All Opher could recall of the place or the process now was a blinding rainbow light and searing agony, the last true pain he'd felt to date. "Ha! I can't remember. Anyway, once you'd done it, you could eat small amounts of Dust and have the healing to counteract its poisonous effects for a while."

"Why would you do that?" Jaune asked. "'Cause it seems pretty, you know, dangerous."

"Oh, it was. We only used it for emergencies… like the Grimm attack that changed everything. Guess who volunteered to save the village that night?" Opher half-heartedly raised his hand and sighed. "I knew the risks. I didn't care. When you spend your life purposely taking hits because you know you can bounce back so fast, well, you end up thinking you're invincible."

His words seemed to hit Yang most; the blonde took a seat on the red grass and rubbed at her temples. "Did… did you at least win the fight?" she asked after a while.

"I slowed their advance, but one trip wasn't enough. I had to keep going back to finally stop them. My Aura got compressed to the point that, well…" Opher spread his arms out wide. "I can't turn my Semblance off, and I haven't run out of Aura yet. My body literally doesn't remember how to die." While they struggled with his confession, Opher noticed an odd look on Pyrrha's face. "What?"

"I…" The redhead tugged at her forehead protector and glanced away. "How long ago did you know Carmine?"

He took the question in stride. "Oh, about nine hundred years, give or take." Opher looked down at an overwhelmed Ruby. "Sorry. I'm a little flustered at the moment. This is the first chance I've had to die in a few centuries so I'm kind of excited."

This snapped her out of her reverie. "What chance?"

He couldn't have them ruining his plan by somehow apprehending or exposing Cinder, so Opher clammed up and turned away. A few glances at Pyrrha's waiting eyes made him squirm. For her sake, he gave them something small. "Just… a word of advice: be prepared for anything. And, uh…" He rubbed the nape of his neck and looked down. "If something happens, would you watch out for Indigo? I might be a little busy."

"That's all you're going to say?" a dour Blake asked. "Really?"

Opher pinned her down with a stare. "I'm trying to give you a carrot, but if you prefer the stick..."

"No! No. Stop." Ruby doubled over and inhaled deeply a few times. "Sure, okay, we'll check on Indigo if something happens. What did you do, though? I still don't get why Professor Ozpin banned you-"

A smiling Opher cut her off. "Like I said, my history is awfully bloody. He's just protecting you all from me." He pointed in the direction of the wall. "So, who wants a ride back to the top? I've got some gravity Dust I haven't used up yet."

"I'm sure we can manage," Weiss replied as politely as she could manage while staring at the place where she'd impaled him. "But thanks anyway."

The gobsmacked RWBY took their leave, bashing and hacking their way through the ice. Pyrrha and Nora were reluctant to depart, however; without their might, Jaune and Ren weren't going much of anywhere. Their leader quickly came back to investigate. "Hey, what's up?" he asked Pyrrha.

"This is just a lot to digest," she replied absentmindedly.

At this, he could only nod. "No kidding." That didn't explain Nora's hesitance. "Remnant to Nora? I don't like that look on your face."

"Hey, since you can't die and stuff, can I hit you?" she asked Opher, completely ignoring Jaune. "Just to see what happens."

Before Opher could answer affirmatively, Jaune intervened. "Nora, please." With Ren's aid, he grabbed Nora by the shoulder and tugged her along. "You can hit all of this ice as much as you want. And you should, 'cause otherwise we might be out here until morning."

It took a few moments more, but at last Team JNPR hammered and cut their way through the woods and out of Opher's sight. Despite their departure, he could sense that he wasn't alone; upon turning around, he saw Qrow Branwen standing a few feet away. "That was a hell of a story," the old Huntsman said. "And a hell of a show. Don't think I've ever seen anyone slash their own throat before."

While confused about how and from where this man had come, Opher didn't feel threatened. Even at this distance, he could smell the alcohol. "Whew, you smell like Schwarze's pub," he remarked with a smirk. "Check that. I don't think she has that much booze in stock."

"Heh." Qrow's smile ran away in the face of a serious stare. "The name is Qrow. I'm an associate of Ozpin's."

"Ah, of course." This was enough information for Opher to discard his interest in the conversation and start walking. "Not surprised he'd send someone to watch me."

Qrow pursued him, though at a short distance. "Yeah, well, you seem to know a few things you're not willing to tell anyone, eh?"

Opher's eyes narrowed to slits. "Get lost. I'm done talking and I don't feel like digging a grave to cram you into."

"Ohhhh, excuse me!" Qrow exclaimed, waving his hands. "I've got a bone to pick with you about the way you just treated my nieces, by the way."

Opher couldn't be sure which of the girls Qrow meant, but he and Ruby seemed to dress rather alike, so that's where his assumptions went. "Whatever. I'm sure you or Ozpin will have plenty of time in the morning to bitch at me about it," he replied, straightening his hat and launching himself into the moonlit night.

"Hey-" was all Qrow could get out before the lanky man vanished. "Son of a bitch," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "This is gonna get too damn complicated."


	23. Chapter 23

Weiss found herself the victim of a sleepless night after her team had made it back to Beacon. She spent the hours tossing and turning gently, unable to still her nerves. Part of her wondered if this is what a murderer's conscience felt like, even though she hadn't actually killed anyone. What bothered her just as much as her own actions were Opher's words. Was he right about the bloody nature of the path they'd picked? Had she made a mistake?

Would she end up living up to the family name?

That possibility forced her upright with a groan. "I can't let that happen," she grumbled to herself. How, then, could she stop it? To this question, there was no ready answer. Weiss groaned again and looked to her left; Myrtenaster sat on the floor by her bed, barely distinguishable in the darkness. Another, darker shape appeared at the top of her vision, startling her; Ruby had poked her head down to see what the commotion was about.

"Sorry," Ruby whispered. "I heard you talking to yourself again. What's up?" Weiss couldn't see it, but her leader's face screwed up. "Why did I ask? I know what's probably up."

"I'm fine," Weiss assured her. "Go back to sleep." Ruby's smiling face remained exactly where it was. "Ruby…" the heiress urged her with arms lightly folded, "I promise I'm okay."

By now all the blood had rushed to Ruby's head, but she endured the sensation for her partner's sake. "You don't sound okay. You probably don't look okay either? Just a guess, can't really see you right now."

"Ruby…" Weiss repeated with a sigh. "We can talk about it in the morning."

"Are you sure? I could go drink three or four cups of coffee and you've got me for, like, a solid hour of venting before I pass out."

The image put a smile on Weiss' face. "Please don't. I had to carry you around campus the last time you had a caffeine crash."

"Oh, yeah. That was… fun…"

She reached out and gently thumped her leader on the forehead. "Go to sleep before Yang wakes up and gets grumpy."

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine," Ruby mumbled, withdrawing up and out of sight.

The moment she'd gone, however, Weiss regretted sending her away; she felt suddenly alone. Her arms tightened around herself in a hug. "He would have killed her," she whispered. And yet, the way Opher had set the forest on fire around them without the smallest physical motion gave her pause. If he meant to kill Ruby, why telegraph the attack? Had she overreacted? Thinking too hard on this gave her a skull a penetrating ache. Turning her thoughts elsewhere didn't help, either, as she landed on Opher's machinations. What had he meant by being prepared? Overwhelmed, she plopped down and shoved her head under her pillow. "This is ridiculous," she grumbled into the mattress. Her eyes began to slide closed. "Simply… ridic…"

They fluttered open again in reaction to a jostle. Weiss shot up to find the sun streaming through the window and a messy-haired Yang standing over her. "Come on, sleepyhead!" she greeted with a wave. "Time to get up."

"What…" Weiss rubbed at her face and took a breath to compose herself. "What time is it?"

"Oh, about nine o'clock. Ruby told me to let you sleep in for a little while, but not _too_ long."

"I see." Weiss couldn't help but smile to herself. It occurred to her then to look past Yang and around the room; while Blake was present and reading, as usual, Ruby herself seemed to be missing. "Where is she?"

Blake looked up from her book to explain. "Getting br-"

The door flew open, cutting her short; Ruby slipped inside with two bags in each hand and a playful Zwei running circles around her boots. She gently kicked the door shut and moved to the center of the room. "Yours!" she called, tossing one of the bags to Yang. "Yours!" This bag flew toward Blake. "Uh… mine," she confirmed after looking into one of the remaining bags and setting it down by her foot. Zwei gave it a curious sniff. "Don't you dare. Which leaves... yours!"

Weiss' arms flew up as she caught the incoming package. "Don't just fling it at me!" she scolded bitterly. Inside she found not only something in a wrapper, but a cup of coffee that, by some miracle, still had its lid on tight. "Thank you."

"I smell fish," Yang complained, looking around for its source. She traced the odor to the sandwich in Blake's hand. "Really? For breakfast?"

"Don't judge me," was all her partner said.

Ruby grabbed one of the chairs and set it down in the middle of the room with a small thunk. "So," she began, sitting and reaching into her own bag, "I guess we need to talk about the… you know. Stuff. Raise your hand if you had a nightmare about Opher slitting his throat!" Her own went up reluctantly with a nervous titter. When Weiss failed to react to this, Ruby looked her way. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine," she stated curtly after a sip of hot coffee. Zwei hopped up on the bed beside her, but even he couldn't put much of a smile on her face.

"You sure sound like a ray of sunshine," Yang quipped lowly, earning her a dour glance from the heiress. "Where do we even start?"

"Maybe with the fact that _immortal people are a thing_." An already-stressed Ruby rubbed at her eyes. "Like, what the heck? What else is out there that we don't know about, huh? Is this the kind of stuff you learn in second-year classes or what?"

"Let's just worry about what we know," Blake advised calmly. "Something big is happening and Opher clearly knows what it is."

"Yeah, and I'm guessing whatever it is, it's probably the same thing he's excited about," Yang added while pointing at her partner. "The question is: if it's big enough to kill him, what does that mean for us?"

"Nothing good," a grave Weiss decided. "We'd better tell someone about it."

"Wait!" Ruby exclaimed, straightening up with eyes wide. "That's gotta be why Professor Ozpin had it out with him! He wouldn't talk about whatever is happening!"

The four girls stared at each other for a moment before Yang countered, "Whoa, whoa, but that would mean Ozpin knows something is up too." She hunched over and stared off in thought. "I guess that makes sense. He is the headmaster and all. But wouldn't he warn the students about it?"

"This is a school full of kids that want to be heroes. That would be a _terrible_ idea." Weiss met their silent gazes with a shrug. "Yes, I'm including us in that group."

"We oughta do, I dunno, _something_ , right?" Ruby asked around a mouthful of waffle. "Because I've got a feeling the breach was part of whatever the heck all of this is."

Blake mumbled agreement just before her partner spoke. "I'm down, but _what_ should we do?" No one had a good answer for Yang; in fact, Ruby was reduced to uncertain, awkward mutterings before silence fell again.

While each girl pondered, or ate blank-faced in Yang's case, Ruby steered their conversation back to its beginnings. "Forget it for now. We should probably have JNPR around if we're gonna plan stuff anyway. Meanwhile, there's kind of an immortal guy running around. I'm just-I…" She began to motion wildly. "It makes my head hurt! This is fairytale stuff!"

"Should we tell Indigo?" Yang asked before anyone could follow up on what Ruby had said.

"Um, no," Blake replied. "Would she even believe us?"

Weiss carefully set her coffee aside and frowned. "I'm still not sure _I_ completely believe it." A curious look from Blake and Yang made her brow raise. "What?"

It took an awkward Yang a few seconds to get any words out. "You still don't believe it after everything you saw?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." The heiress held on to the image of Opher impaled on her weapon for too long and lost her appetite. His crazy smile stuck out most of all. "I suppose it's the concept that I'm having the most-"

The voice of Glynda Goodwitch over the PA system interrupted her. "Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc, please report to the administrations building. Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc to the administrations building."

"Oh!" Ruby finished cramming a bagel in her mouth and grabbed what was left of her orange juice as she stood up. "I wonder what they want."

"Unless somebody found out about what happened last night, who knows." Yang watched her walk to the door. "Guess we'll pick this up when you get back."

"Yep! I won't be long! I hope. Maybe." Ruby moved into the hall, shutting her door just as Jaune opened and came through his own. "Hi Jaune! Any idea what's going on?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd know," he said nervously. They walked down the corridor together on quick strides. "So, how's everyone handling the…"

"Oh, we're... struggling a little," she admitted readily.

Jaune couldn't help but nod at that. "Yeah, same. Pyrrha thinks whatever Opher was talking about being ready for last night has something to do with-"

"The breach? So do we. We're just not really sure what to do next, if anything." Ruby took a moment to adjust the clips on her red cloak before adding, "Hey, did you ask her if she thought his Aura looked so weird because he's immortal? Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, actually, and she said she doesn't really know. I mean, she's obviously never met anyone like him before." They emerged into the morning sunshine and set off through a sparse crowd of other students. Some of them raised their Scrolls to take pictures of the two. Jaune frowned a bit at the attention. "I don't know _what_ to think, you know? It's all so… weird."

"Oh, I get it." While Ruby had experience with Penny, who proved to be enough of an oddity, the situation with Opher blew that away. She couldn't begin to imagine how everyone else felt.

They arrived at their destination a few moments later, with Ruby in front. The lobby stood entirely empty save for her and Jaune; for some reason it gave her the creeps. "Too quiet," she muttered.

At least they didn't have long to wait. The elevator doors opened about a minute later. Out stepped Glynda. "Ah, there you are. Go ahead. Professor Ozpin is waiting for you."

"What does he want?" Jaune asked as they walked past each other.

"I'm sure you can take a guess," was all Glynda said in reply.

"Oh. Uh…" Too late; the doors shut before Jaune could complete his thought, and up they went. "Looks like we got found out."

"Yeah," Ruby sighed, tugging at the hood of her cloak. "Or something."

Their ascent complete, the elevator doors opened again to reveal Ozpin, at his desk, alone. Two chairs were arranged in front of it. Ruby and Jaune approached cautiously, testing the atmosphere for tension. "I won't bite," the headmaster called, noting their sluggish approach. "Please have a seat."

After sharing a look, the two leaders did just that. Ruby sat on Ozpin's right side. "So, um…"

Ozpin decided to defuse their uncertainty immediately. "I've heard what happened last night, Miss Rose. No one is in trouble. How are your teams holding up?"

"Ah, we're fine," she replied quickly, her voice a little too high-pitched. This was honestly the first time she'd thought about what Opher could have done to her and Weiss. The possibilities made her shiver, yet she maintained a smile. "He didn't beat us up too bad."

This was news to Jaune. "Opher beat you up?" he asked while looking at her. "Wait, like before we got there?"

"Oh, well, um…" Ruby played with her hair a little and looked aside. "Weiss freaked out a little and attacked him 'cause she thought he was about to, I don't know, burn me or freeze me or _something_. Then I freaked out too, and, uh… I might have tried to behead him a little."

"You _what_?" Jaune exclaimed.

"Look, things got heated. You saw how strange Opher was acting; well, it got worse while you were stuck in the tree. A lot worse." Ruby turned her attention back to Ozpin. "Er, sorry. Go ahead."

The headmaster took a moment to adjust his glasses before speaking. "While I'm aware of some of the circumstances, how your teams ended up there in the first place is beyond me. Would either of you care to explain?"

Jaune raised his hand with a nervous smile. "I guess it all started with Pyrrha," he offered hesitatingly. "See…"

Ruby, however, wouldn't let him finish. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Hey, wait a second. Blake had the idea to go see him."

"Well, yeah, but if she hadn't, then Pyrrha would have. Probably."

Ozpin cleared his throat to stop them and nodded at Ruby to sit again. "I care less about who started it than what happened."

"Oh, well, in that case, we all went to his apartment. I mean _I_ went to his apartment. Everybody else waited outside of the building." Ruby's eyes went up toward the gears as she recalled Opher's demeanor. "We'd met a few times before. I could tell he was acting different, though."

The headmaster cut in here once again. "How did all of you end up in Forever Fall?"

"Oh, uh… we followed him." Ruby pawed awkwardly at the nape of her neck. "'Cause… well…"

Jaune decided to come right out with it. "We were trying to figure out why you'd kicked him off of campus. Like, if it had anything to do with the breach or something. He knows… I dunno _what_ he knows, but I know that he knows it. And it's probably bad."

"I see." Ozpin leaned back in his seat and frowned. "While your initiative is respectable, the business between Mister Riese and myself isn't really your concern."

Both were stung by his reprimand, mild as it was, but Ruby found something she couldn't help but point out. "Business?" she asked curiously. "What busi-"

"Miss Rose."

There was no stopping her now. "Just hear me out! If there's something going on, you can tell _us_ , right?" she said, patting her chest, then waving at Jaune, for emphasis. "We just helped save the city! Maybe we're not as strong as teams like CFVY, yet, but haven't we proven ourselves? At least a little?"

"You'll have plenty of time to be heroes after you've graduated," Ozpin replied calmly. "My most important job is to ensure you make it to that day."

"But-!"

"Enough." The headmaster remained silent until a cowed Ruby ducked her head. "I am certain you now both realize that Opher Riese is not someone to be trifled with. You and your teams are to have no further contact with him under any circumstances. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir…" a defeated Ruby mumbled.

"Got it," Jaune confirmed while giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, uh, did you know that he was immortal, by the way?" The headmaster raised a brow, causing the scraggly blonde to squirm in his chair. "I swear on my sisters' jewelry collection. It's totally true. He slit his own throat to prove it to us."

Ozpin had to fake what little shock he decided to display. "I... see."

"You... you don't believe me, do you?"

Now the headmaster smiled a bit. "It is a rather steep claim to make." He then brought up a floating screen. "At any rate, I had another reason for asking you here. Before I formally submit your entries for the tournament, do either of you have any concerns about your teams' readiness? I know this week has been trying for all involved."

"Ah, we're fine," Jaune assured him with a wave. "Pyrrha's used to being famous. We just all hide behind her if things get too hot." His face went blank. "Man, we do that for a _lot_ of stuff."

Ruby snorted a bit. "We're ready. I mean, we got a little scuffed up last night, but by next week we should be totally good to go."

"I'm glad to hear it." Ozpin gave the screen one more tap before dismissing it. "I wish you luck in the tournament." He then nodded at the elevator doors. "You may see yourselves out."

No sooner than when those doors had shut on Ruby and Jaune did Qrow pop out from his hiding place behind one of the stone pillars. He cast a look at the elevator before wandering over toward Ozpin. "Ruby seems to be handling this pretty well," he said idly. "But you can bet she ain't gonna stop asking questions."

"Oh, I'm well aware," the headmaster acknowledged. "We have another issue." Another floating screen came up above his desk. "Should we choose Pyrrha Nikos, can I trust her not to speak of our machinations to Opher Riese?"

"If you insist hard enough. You're a pretty imposing guy when you wanna be." Qrow took the seat Jaune vacated and drank from his flask. "But just in case, you got any other candidates?"

"A few had crossed my mind, yes, but none of them are as good as Pyrrha." Ozpin cast a long gaze out the windows as he cradled his mug with both hands. "She is certainly my first choice. I believe James shares that opinion."

The mere mention of Ironwood etched a deeply sour look on Qrow's face. "You know what I think about what _he_ thinks."

"Indeed," the headmaster confirmed with a little smirk that lasted only an instant. "I would certainly like to learn whatever information Opher possesses. Any suggestions?"

"I'd try fighting him, but I dunno how much that would piss him off. Besides, he just flattened a few square miles of Forever Fall. I ain't a tree that needs choppin' down." Qrow stroked his chin in thought. "Ironwood's got all those toys. He must have some way to hold Riese, right?"

Ozpin set his mug aside with a frown. "I'm not sure that capture and interrogate is an option in this case. Even if we were able to take him in, the price to keep him here would be astronomical."

"So, what, we gotta play nice? Bah." The old Huntsman waved dismissively and went back to drinking. "Feels like we're past trying to chat-" Both men looked back as the elevator doors opened. Out stepped General Ironwood, morose and serious-looking as ever. " _You_."

"Qrow," Ozpin warned him as he rose.

"I know what's coming," Ironwood stated, eying the irritated Qrow evenly. "Let him get it out of his system."

"You first, you damned numbskull." He pointed out at one of the massive Atlesian airships drifting by in the blue sky. "Are you fucking _nuts_? What were you planning to accomplish? She's not afraid of your technology."

The General let his eyes narrow just a little. "When the public looks up at those ships, they see security. Safety."

"No they don't, you idiot! They look up there and wonder why they're necessary!"

The argument stopped there as a stoic Ozpin placed himself between the two men. "Let's focus on the enemies without for a while, shall we?" He looked to Ironwood. "I assume you have a reason for dropping by?"

After a breath to compose himself, he got to the point of his visit. "We need to deal with Opher Riese. Whatever he's doing in Forever Fall is agitating the public. The military is having a hard time figuring out what lie to tell everyone."

"As if we didn't have enough problems," Qrow grumbled, throwing his hands up and walking away. "We're gonna have to meet this guy with force. You know it. I know it."

Ozpin threw cold water on that idea immediately. "We can win a battle against Opher, or we can stop whatever Salem's immediate plans may be. We cannot do _both_. Not right now." He tapped his cane on the floor while grasping for ideas. "I still believe it's possible to reason with him."

"I can't believe I'm about to say this," Ironwood began with a caustic laugh, "but I agree with Branwen. Riese is becoming erratic; I think what happened last night proves that _quite_ well. We need to contain him before he spirals completely out of control."

"And how many soldiers are you willing to sacrifice to ensure that victory? How far are you willing to test Opher's scruples?" Ozpin asked, drilling into the General with a pointed stare. He caught Qrow with a similar look. "And you? How many lives are you willing to risk?" Both men stood awkwardly under his grim scrutiny. "Better we marshal our resources for the enemy we have now than use them in the process of forging a new one."

"We have to do _something_ ," Ironwood finally blurted out.

"Agreed." Ozpin returned to his desk as the situation cooled. "And what we will do is watch and wait. At our disposal is the best intelligence and military on Remnant. We will use them judiciously."

"Ugh, _fine_ ," Qrow groaned with a roll of his eyes. "I'll try talkin' one more time, but if he kills me, you all get to deal with Raven." He shouldered his way past Ironwood while in route to the elevator.

The General failed to react. In fact, he only spoke again once the old Huntsman was gone. "A backup plan wouldn't be a bad idea, Ozpin."

"I know. If all else fails, we may have to use what is left of Amber's power against him." The thought of putting Pyrrha through all of that made him sigh. "As much as the idea pains me."

"And if that isn't enough?"

Ozpin glanced up, his frown only deepening. "Then I do not know what happens next."

* * *

"Where the hell have you been, man? I've been trying to get in touch with you since yesterday."

While it was nice to hear Indigo's voice again, Opher was still of two minds about their relationship. For now, he'd treat her as he always did. Part of him wondered how long that could hold up. "Sorry. I like to disconnect sometimes," he said to the Scroll lying on his kitchen counter.

"Weirdo. Anyway, I've got great news! Schwarze scored a booth at the expo and she ended up with an extra ticket to the festival tournament. You want it? She already gave me one."

Since the festival was taking place so close to Beacon, Opher wondered idly if he'd even be allowed to attend it. If nothing else, it could be a way to annoy Ozpin without having to rely on Cinder. He decided to go regardless; after all, the event would be a juicy target for that witch and he still wanted to keep Indigo out of the fray, if possible. "Sure, why not," he agreed flatly.

"Oh, gee, back down the enthusiasm a little."

He smiled at her sarcasm. "Didn't I mention something about not liking crowds?"

Indigo chortled lowly. "Ah, you'll be fine. I'll be there." A strange cough indicated that she thought her humor fell a bit flat. "Hey, uh, the Army's been in a tizzy about what's been going on in Forever Fall the last couple of nights. You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"

A wry smirk bent his lips. "Are they making you ask me?"

"Nah. I swear. I'm on my lunch break. I'm not even at the po-"

"I was joking, Indy." He plucked the Scroll up on his way back to the living room. "Anyway, yeah, it was my fault. I was…" His eyes went to the ceiling. "...bored."

" _Bored_?! You leveled almost five square miles of forest, you lunatic! People are freaking the hell out all over the place!"

Opher sliced open the orange in his hand with a palm-borne blade of ice before biting out some of its pulp. "Did it cause any problems with the Grimm?"

"Well… no."

"That's good, seeing as I probably killed all of them. In that particular spot, anyway." He punctuated this assessment with another bite of orange. "Planning on going out there again tonight. I'm in a culling mood."

"Wow. You are one scary fucker."

"Yet you still insist on hanging around." He chuckled at her annoyed growling before a knock at his door ruined the fun. "Someone's at my door. I've got to go."

"Yeah, fine. Come pick up your ticket at the post tonight. See you."

As Opher closed his Scroll, a news story about his actions in Forever Fall came on his muted TV. His face screwed up as he eyed the images of the charred trees. "I guess I should use a little less fire next time," he admitted. Renewed knocking brought him back to Remnant. "Oh, right."

Behind his door stood an exceptionally-grumpy looking Qrow. The two man regarded each other for a moment. "You ain't gonna make me stand out here, are you?" he asked coolly.

A clearly displeased Opher allowed him by after another brief pause and shut the door. "Goodness me, it's 1:30 in the afternoon. I'm surprised Ozpin held his water for this long."

"Look, he's tryin' real hard to be nice to you. Throw us a bone. We've got bigger shit to worry about than your crazy ass." Qrow turned on Opher with a scowl, adjusting his broadsword to make sure the lanky man could see it. "Come to think of it, I'm being even nicer, considering what you pulled on my nieces last night. I should just kick your ass and take you to Beacon myself."

"Try me. I'm sure Ruby and Yang will look lovely in funeral dresses. Assuming I feel like leaving enough of you to bury." The vile look he got in return told Opher he'd guessed right about the identity of Qrow's relatives. "Ruby's a lot like you. Just smaller and less drunk. I guess she's got time to catch up on the latter. She sure picked the right career path for it."

"God damn, is this how everyone else feels when they talk to me?" the old Huntsman quipped derisively. "Come on. Vale already thinks of you as a hero because of the breach. You tell us what you know, and Oz will make you more famous than you could ever imagine."

Opher chortled in response. "I don't think fame is the kind of thing you offer somebody that's been in hiding for several thousand years." He smoothed back his brown hair and looked past Qrow. "Besides, if I wanted that sort of thing, I'd take it myself."

"Well, hell. I guess I'll have to settle for hoping you'll spill the beans out of the goodness of your heart." They regarded each other again, this time with colder eyes, but Opher said no more. "What's your game here?" Qrow asked, crossing his arms.

The lanky man gazed at him almost blankly. "I could ask you the same thing about Ozpin."

Qrow's displeasure exploded into full-blown ire as he stepped forward. "Fuck off! Don't turn this-"

" _You_ fuck off. Just because you're a hundred percent behind whatever platitudes Ozpin sold you doesn't mean the man is a saint." By this point they were face-to-face, though Qrow was far angrier than the smirking Opher. "You know what they say about power and corruption."

Too incensed to stay his hand, Qrow drew his broadsword and took a half-strength swing at Opher's neck. He didn't lift a finger in defense; its edge met his pale skin and stopped cold. When Qrow moved to withdraw it, he discovered the blade was stuck fast. "What the hell?" he gasped while trying to wrench it free. Only after a moment did he see the outline of the ghostly gray hand that prevented his sword from moving. Not knowing quite what to do, he released the grip and stepped back. "Give me that!" he demanded at length.

"And if I don't?" Opher replied evenly. "What will you do?"

The old Huntsman's left hand slipped subtly into one of his pockets. "Then maybe…" Out it came in a flash, palm full of white powder that he flung into Opher's face. "...you need to take a nap."

Opher inhaled some of the substance before blasting the rest away on a stiff breeze. Within seconds, he felt incredibly drowsy. The room began to blur. "Oh," he droned to a grinning Qrow, "well… you've fucked up now." As he began to topple over, the sword dropped free of his Aura's grasp.

"Heh." Qrow picked up his weapon and prepared to add something snarky before realizing that Opher hadn't completed the process of falling over. He hung awkwardly in the air a foot above the carpet, his limbs-akimbo pose reminiscent of a puppet in suspension. "Uh… what?" Opher's tattooed arm jerked up awkwardly. Qrow stepped back further still and aimed the shotgun mechanism in his sword.

In the meantime, Opher jerked and twitched his way back to an upright position, though his head lolled back. When it tilted forward at last, his eyes were still closed. His limbs continued to twitch until the force that lifted him let his feet touch the carpet. With each passing second, the motions became smoother until he settled into a more normal standing posture. His eyes, however, remained closed.

Since none of these movements were an attack, Qrow dropped his guard slightly. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. "Are… are you asleep?"

"Yes," said a voice that wasn't Opher's despite coming from his lips, "He is."

The old Huntsman was immensely confused; it sounded like a woman speaking. "Okay, who am I speaking to right now, then?"

"What are your intentions?"

While that wasn't much of an answer, this entity didn't seem immediately hostile either. Qrow put away his sword. He did, however, keep a hand on it just in case. "I'm… just gonna take him-"

"No. You are not." Gray Aura began to waft from Opher's skin, coagulating into an extended arm which pointed at Qrow from the lanky man's chest. That appendage swung all the way around to the front door, passing through Opher's limp right arm to do so. "Leave."

"Not until I figure out what's goin' on here." Qrow put the couch between him and Opher's body, his hand remaining on his sword. "Are you, I dunno, possessing him or something?"

"I _am_ him." Just as the gray phantom's head began to emerge from Opher's own, the lanky man twitched awake. The ghost withdrew in a flash as he regained consciousness.

"Cheap shot," he mumbled while shaking the cobwebs out. "Sleep powder? Thought everyone had moved on to chloroform or gas by now." Opher calmly picked his hat up off the floor and put it back on. "Hey, you're still alive. Guess it listened to me for once."

" _What_ -"

He silenced Qrow with a wave of his tattooed arm and grinned. "You've seen a Maiden, right?" The old Huntsman nodded confirmation. "Of course. But do you know how they actually _work_?"

"I don't need to know the particulars for my job." By now, Qrow had managed to move all the way around the living room and ended up with the door at his back.

"Their souls are immortal too, but they wear out their containers and have to move on to new ones." He examined the back of his hand idly before setting his steely eyes on Qrow. "If you stuck a Maiden's soul in my body, well, it would eventually look like this." The gray ghost emerged again, draped around Opher's form in a loose hug. "I once heard someone say that Aura is the answer to a question your soul asks. Live long enough, and it gets to ask all _kinds_ of questions."

Qrow couldn't help but stare at the ashen phantom. "What the hell kinda question is that an answer to?"

"It's not an answer. It's the thing preventing me from asking something." Opher flicked it on the head and sent it away again. "Tell Ozpin I'll be attending the festival with Indigo. I wouldn't try to stop me, if you get my drift. If he's there, I _might_ talk to him again. Until then you can all leave me the hell alone."

"Yeah, sure. I'll pass it on." Qrow turned away from him and prepared to depart. "So, what, are you just a guy Maiden?"

"Eh. They can do things I can't. And I can do things they can't." Opher shrugged a bit and frowned about his now-missing orange. "I guess if you gave us enough time, we'd end up basically the same."

"Huh." Before opening the door, Qrow gave him one more chance to come clean. "You sure there's nothing you want to tell us?"

Want had nothing to do with it; if Opher was going to reach his goal, Ozpin had to remain in the dark. He deflected the question with a faint smirk. "Positive."

"Yeah, well, knowing Oz, I'm sure it won't be the last time somebody asks." With that, a scowling Qrow departed.

* * *

"She can't still be mad about the-" Mercury paused here to lower his voice as a group of students walked by. "-you know."

Emerald, seated across the long dining table from him and focused mostly on her open Scroll, nodded in reply. "Oh, trust me, I know when she's mad."

She added after a brief pause, "And she hasn't heard anything from home. Probably isn't making things any better."

"I wonder why?"

"You got me." She flicked the device shut and concentrated on finishing off what was left of her sandwich. "And she'd probably burn my mouth shut for asking. The woman is in a _mood_ today."

"Aw, she's not that touchy." His eyes rolled about in thought. "Check that. She totally is."

Before Emerald could agree or disagree with him, both of their Scrolls emitted a simultaneous chime. This could only mean one thing; a look at their messages confirmed that Cinder had contacted both and wanted to see them immediately. "Oh, hell," the thief muttered. "I could have done so much better for a last meal."

"You better go first. I'm not in the mood to be a punching bag." Mercury realized too late that he treaded on thin ice with that remark. He smiled anyway.

"Not another word, or you'll be eating my fist for dessert," a narrow-eyed Emerald replied before standing up.

Driven by equal amounts of anticipation and terror, the two criminals slipped and jogged their way through the afternoon crowd. When they arrived at Cinder's door, however, neither was willing to knock. "You do it," Mercury encouraged.

"Why me?" Emerald fired back. "You're bigger and stronger."

The door opened before their argument could really get going. A brooding Cinder, baggy-eyed and pallid, glared at them before curtly motioning for them to enter. After they obeyed, both of them gravitated toward the farthest corner of the darkened room that they could reach. "Give me the list," she commanded Emerald.

"Y-yes ma'am." The thief brought it up on her Scroll before nervously relinquishing the device.

Cinder thumbed through the names in silence. "We will be using the tournament to build up enough negativity for the Grimm," she stated coldly. "Combined with the White Fang airborne assault, it should be sufficient to crack Beacon's defenses." She glanced up as her associates emitted small sighs of relief.

Mercury, however, pushed his luck a bit too far. "Sounds good. Say, is Riese killing all those Grimm gonna be a-" He fell silent in the face of Cinder's hellish glower.

"Do _not_ bring him up," she warned, her voice hardly a whisper.

"Right. Got it."

"Good." Her attention went to an uneasy Emerald. "You're in charge of scouting teams during the tournament. The later the round we can reach, the better. More eyes to see our work."

She nodded once, too anxious to do much else. "Of course."

"That is-" A strange chime came from Cinder's hip. "-all. Get out." Her associates scrambled for the exit as she retrieved her Scroll and began to input the passcode. The message she found after entering it caused her to raise a brow with surprise.

_She is convinced now that he is who he says. Keep your distance from him at all costs. Many Maidens have met their end at his hand._

Cinder gazed blankly at the screen until her brain finished processing these words. "He kills Maidens?" she mumbled. "Why?" Not that it meant too much now; she had her orders. The matter was closed. Despite this, a nagging frustration clung to the back of her mind. There had to be some way to gain vengeance for his humiliation. "Damn him." All she could do now was put her faith into Salem's plan. After all, it might make Ozpin overplay his hand; if it did, and she became whole, a grinning Cinder knew exactly who she'd test her might on first.


	24. Chapter 24

It was admittedly unusual for Ozpin to let himself become so frustrated, but in this case he could hardly stifle the feeling. He sat in his darkened office, watching Qrow's covert footage of Opher for what must have been the tenth time. What answers he'd gotten out of the story Opher told led only to a thousand more questions, and the intervening days had given him nothing. The archivists had yet to figure out what process he'd meant, or where it had taken place. Even the precise site of Opher's home village defied him. The headmaster had a guess, but sending someone to poke around in Kasserine Pass was a provocation he couldn't risk being discovered.

Not now. Not on the Vytal Festival's opening day. Too much hung in the balance for anything but the awkward status quo.

He looked up as the elevator doors opened. As Ironwood stepped out, Ozpin turned on the overhead lights. "I see we've both beaten the sun again."

"We're not the only ones. Glynda and Branwen are right behind me." The General took a seat before Ozpin's desk. He could see the footage on one of the floating screens. "Still nothing?"

"I'm afraid so. The man certainly knows how to be vague."

"I don't know whether to shoot him for stirring up trouble, or pin a medal on him for killing so damn many Grimm." Ironwood briefly eyed the blue light that clung to the eastern horizon. "He's a buzzsaw. Sector counts are down forty percent, across the board. If we had three or four Hunters like him, Vale would be a completely Grimm-free zone."

"Hmm." Ozpin rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm glad he decided to tone things down."

"You and me both." Ironwood looked over his shoulder as Glynda and Qrow made their predicted appearances.

"Please tell me you've got some idea about what the hell I saw," the old Huntsman asked for the fourth consecutive morning in a row. Silence was his answer once again. "Fat lot of good Atlas' Aura research is doing us right now, huh?"

"Don't start," Glynda warned him evenly. "We're under enough pressure." She looked to Ozpin next. "No progress on either front, I'm afraid. Should we de-prioritize the CCT breach investigation? Those resources could be used elsewhere."

That failure was another source of frustration. Ozpin shed his glasses with a sigh. "I suppose." As Glynda tapped away on her open Scroll, he added, "James, how much more can you increase security?"

Ironwood thought about this over a sip of liquor-spiked coffee. "Not much. I'd need authority from the King to recall active Atlesian Hunters in the field and redeploy them here. That could take days. Maybe even a week."

"Time we don't have." Ozpin steepled his fingers and looked to Qrow. "I would appreciate another pair of eyes in the sky." The old Huntsman nodded; Ozpin now regarded his associates as a group. "I've made my decision on a Guardian: Pyrrha Nikos. Any objections?" They said nothing; Opzin donned his glasses again with a sigh. "Very well. Are there any other matters that require our attention?"

"I believe that's all," Glynda stated.

"Very well." Ozpin turned just in time to see the sun begin its morning ascent. "I'll see you all for the opening ceremony."

* * *

A large portion of Indigo's morning was lost to making sure Diamond Dust still had all of its inventory. She'd just about finished the process off when Opher himself ambled in through the back room door. "Oh, there you are," she greeted. "We aren't gonna be open long. Qualifiers start at noon and I'm damn sure gonna be there."

He watched the swarthy woman cackle gleefully to herself and shook his head. "You know, I don't get the appeal of this thing. It's just a bunch of kids beating up on each other."

"It's the spectacle, man." Indigo paused a moment to retie her ponytail before adding, "How was the rest of your week off?"

Opher slipped past her on his way to the glass counter. "Are you actually asking me, or is that a rhetorical question?"

"Little bit of both." She met him at the register a moment later and looked up, a hand on her hip. "You seen this?" On her Scroll was an article about the notably low levels of Grimm surrounding Vale for the start of the festival. "How much of it is your fault?"

He smiled down from under the blue brim of his hat. "Hmm. Probably… eighty percent?"

Indigo smacked his tattooed arm. "Get out of here." When he turned and playfully started to leave, she yanked him back by a wrist. "Not for real, smartass."

"So close," he quipped mildly. When their eyes met again, however, Indigo had a rather serious look in hers. "What?"

"How'd you get so… you know, good at this hunting shit?"

Opher looked away with a vague frown. "Like I said, I've got a lot of experience."

Unwilling to let anything distract her from her festive mood, Indigo decided to change the subject. "Sure, sure. Anyway, I'm closing at 10:30 so we can get to Amity in time for the opening round. I guess we can just hang out until then. Seriously doubt anybody's gonna show up."

A gaggle of hooting revelers passed by on the sidewalk outside just as she finished speaking. "Seems like half the city is already drunk." Opher grinned only for a moment before remembering a particular drunk: Qrow. That confrontation had been the last time anyone Beacon-related had spoken to him. Not even Pyrrha tried to get in touch. Ozpin must have warned her off; it was the only reason he could think of that would prevent the redhead from trying.

Indigo noted his furrowed brow and gave him a poke. "What are you thinking about up there?"

"It's not important," he answered after a moment. "So we're just going to stand around and do nothing for ninety minutes?"

An immensely self-amused grin split Indigo's face wide open. "Nah, we're gonna clean up. There's dust all over the Dust." She paused for effect before adding, "I've been waiting to use that one all morning."

Opher gazed at her blankly before rubbing his eyes. "I wish you'd _kept_ waiting."

* * *

Before they could arrive at the tournament, Indigo and Opher had to switch airships. To do this, they'd have to set foot on Beacon's campus. He disembarked first, entering the mild morning air and fully expecting to be met by soldiers of all sorts. While there were guards near the airship pads, and they were eyeing him warily, no one moved to impede his progress.

Indigo's thoughts, of course, were on the party that surrounded them. "Oh, hell, I'm gonna spend all my money on fucking food," she muttered to herself. "Hey, we got time. I wanna see if Schwarze's set up yet."

"Fine. Any idea where she is?" Opher regarded the tremendous clumps of colorful stalls that braced the wide stone avenue and blinked. "And if you do know… _how_?"

"The whole thing's arranged by grid squares, just look for the signs." Indigo found one such placard and waved him off to the left as she departed the pathway. "This way!"

Opher watched her go for an instant before taking off after her. "If you say so."

The audience he'd seen in the amphitheater couldn't hold a candle to the festival crowd. Diverse didn't even begin to describe it; nobody on the grounds seemed to be wearing a uniform beside the soldiers, and every person Opher laid eyes on looked different from everyone else. Some of them were clearly students, though from which Academies he couldn't guess. This put him on the lookout for members of RWBY, JNPR, or Cinder and her band of merry morons. Trying to pick out anyone in the bustling throng gave him a headache after a short while, so he gave up and concentrated on keeping track of Indigo instead. She eventually came to a stop at a stand with yellow and blue striped canvas coverings. No one stood behind the counter.

Only when Indigo let loose a shrill whistle did Schwarze appear. She popped up from behind the counter and nearly fell over with surprise. "Hey!" she chided blindly, losing whatever else she intended to add upon seeing the grinning Indigo. "You found me!" Her look toward Opher was a bit less enthusiastic, but still pleasant. "How did I know you were gonna give it to him?"

"Oh, hush," Indigo said. "How's business?"

"I just got finished setting up. You're my first customer!" Schwarze reached over to flip a sign dangling on one of the posts from "closed" to "open". She thumbed at a light board menu on the wall behind her. Most of its items seemed to be centered around seafood. "Try the fish! Not like you got much choice."

"I can't even pronounce half of this shit." Indigo looked down at her Scroll for the time. "Cook something quick, we've got a tournament shuttle to catch."

"I've got just the thing!"

While Schwarze went to work, Opher continued to scan the crowd for familiar faces. He leaned back against the counter and frowned. "Damn, there's a lot of people," he muttered.

"Wait until we get to the arena." Indigo blinked when Schwarze slid a plate her way. On it sat a cut of pink fish wrapped up in an odd, leafy casing. "You didn't even cook this."

Her smile was like the sun. "It's fine, you're supposed to eat it like that."

"Eh… really?" The idea of consuming raw fish before an airship ride had Indigo feeling leery. "Raw? Maybe-"

Opher glanced back and plucked the fish off the plate, eating it in two bites before looking off into the crowd. "It's not raw. It's smoked," he stated while chewing. "Well, it's kinda raw." A flash of lustrous black hair in the crowd made him go still. "Hmm."

"You're fucking nuts, man." Indigo shrugged at Schwarze and smiled. "I'll hit you up when we get back, I guess."

"I might see you there, actually. I'm bringing up some samples for the concession area during intermission." Schwarze eyed Opher until he finally noticed her. "What did you think?"

"Well…" He paused to collect his opinion. "It wasn't bad. A little bland? No offense." Opher's brow furrowed as people began to recognize and take pictures of him and Indigo. "Can't I just fly us up there?"

"Don't you dare." Indigo yanked him away from the stall and back toward the airship pads. "Later!" she yelled at Schwarze before the crowd swallowed them up.

It took fifteen solid minutes of fighting through the hordes before they even caught sight of the pads again. Smaller airships landed and took off as fast as they safely could, but the line for those shuttles remained large and seemingly unmoving. Opher and Indigo settled into one queue to wait out the rush. "What a joke," Indigo grumbled under her breath. "The tournament's gonna be over by the time we even get anywhere."

"My offer still stands," he replied, grunting as people crowded up against his back. He turned around to complain. "What the hell is…" Opher found himself almost eye-to-eye with Cinder Fall, minus her associates. Once they registered each other's presence, she stared icily but said nothing.

"What?" Indigo detected his sudden silence and looked back. She then cast her eyes up briefly at Cinder, then around at the other lines. "Dude, no. If you start flying all over the place the reporters are gonna lose their minds. There's enough people crammed into this place as it is."

"It would save us _so_ much time," Opher replied, all the while eying Cinder warily.

"Not worth the hassle, man." Indigo suddenly registered the incredible hostility radiating from Cinder and blinked. "Geez, she looks even more pissed off than I feel."

Cinder composed herself in order to get rid of the attention. "My apologies. Someone pushed me into you," she said nonchalantly to Opher.

"I'm sure they did," he mumbled, turning his back on her.

The line crawled along at a snail's pace. About twenty minutes later, it was finally their turn to board a shuttle; Indigo, Cinder and Opher were the last three allowed onboard the small craft before its hull doors were sealed and it took to the morning air. A gleefully smiling Indigo found herself seated between a mildly-annoyed Opher and an absolutely stone-faced Cinder. "Oh man, I've been waiting for this for _months_!" she chirped happily.

Opher didn't share her emotion; it wasn't just Cinder's presence at fault, either. "I sure hope it's better in person than it is on TV."

"There's always a certain thrill involved in being there live," Cinder remarked while examining her fingernails. She locked eyes with Opher again above an oblivious Indigo's head. For a moment, she tried to murder him with her stare. He just smiled at her in return.

Indigo only got more antsy when Amity Colosseum finally came into view through their small window. "I wonder what the line's like for food up here," she muttered, rubbing her belly. "Damn. Should have eaten the fish. It didn't seem to bother you much."

"I have a pretty stout stomach," Opher replied, eying Cinder briefly.

The small shuttle docked a few moments later, disgorging its passengers in a barely-organized clump before leaving straight away to pick up more from the ground far below. Opher and Indigo went their separate ways from Cinder, who wandered almost idly through the crowd. Before Indigo could tend to her growling stomach, they had to present their tickets to one of the roving ushers.

"I hope you know where these seats are," Opher said as his Scroll was scanned. "How many people does this thing hold?"

"I think it's like 25,000?" Indigo looked at her own Scroll to try and get their bearings. She pointed ahead and started walking. "Concessions are this way. Ready to pay 50 Lien for a bucket of popcorn and a twelve-ounce soda?"

25,000 people? The last time he'd been in a space this confined with that amount of company, Opher was the only survivor. He gave his blue boonie a pat and rolled his eyes. "I don't think I brought enough money." He watched Cinder vanish through one of the openings to the arena proper and muttered a low, "Or enough Dust, for that matter."

"Don't worry about it. If you don't have the scratch, we'll think of something during intermission. Come on!" Indigo said, grabbing him by the hand and starting off.

* * *

Cinder had been right; there was something different about being here in person. Whether or not Opher liked the feeling was another story. He'd spent the past two hours surrounded by screaming people while a rapid-fire series of qualifying matches played out. Indigo might have been the loudest of them all; his left ear still rang with her shrieking joy. Now, however, the arena was clear and "Intermission" flashed on the huge screen that normally displayed each team's Aura gauges.

"I gotta get that girl's autograph!" the swarthy woman said breathlessly. "And that whole team's, too!"

" _Which_ girl and team?" Opher asked as he stood and stretched. Most of the rest of the crowd was already heading for the exits by this point. "There were like, sixteen girls." He had some idea of the team she meant after a moment. "You mean NDGO, don't you?"

"Yeah!" An extremely self-amused Indigo could hardly contain her excitement and started to pace. "And… ah, shit, what was her name? The dark girl with the sniper rifle."

Opher needed but an instant to recall it. "Zedong, I think?"

"That's it, that's it. Snipers gotta stick together, man." She collected herself just enough to ask, "So, what did you think?"

"About what?" He watched Indigo sweep her arms around. "Oh, this. Well…" After considering the entire spectacle so far, Opher found himself impressed in some ways but not others. The quality of the fighting he'd watched fell into the latter category. "To be honest, I've seen more entertaining bar fights. I guess the Colosseum is pretty nice, though."

"Wow, such a critic." Indigo rubbed her arms in thought. "Then again… guess you've got the chops to back it up." Her smile brightened. "To be fair, the qualifiers are kinda bottom-of-the-barrel action anyway. The real good shit starts in the first round this afternoon."

"I'll take your word for it." Opher produced his Scroll and accessed the updated tournament bracket. RWBY and JNPR caught his eye, of course, but so did another team: Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and a black-haired, green-eyed girl that seemed oddly familiar. As he looked up, he noticed Indigo walking away from him. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom!" she called. "Meet me at the concessions!"

"Oh, sure. Like there aren't fourteen different concession areas on this stupid thing." Opher snapped his Scroll closed and shoved it into a pocket while looking around. During his scan, he caught a glimpse of General Ironwood perched high above in one of the luxury boxes. When the two men made eye contact, he gave the General a sarcastic wave and looked away. Now he saw Emerald, one of the few people still seated in the arena. Her attention was focused on her Scroll. "I guess the gang's all here, aren't they," he muttered.

While he would have loved to walk over to the dark-skinned thief and toy with her a bit, he couldn't risk Indigo or Ironwood seeing them together. With nothing else to do, he scaled the steps toward a different exit, only to be met by two Atlesian soldiers at the top. "What's this about?" he asked, bristling vaguely.

"The General wants to see you," one of them replied, briefly pointing up as he spoke.

Opher loosely folded his arms and glowered. "Why?"

"Don't look at us. We're just following orders."

"Hmm." He glanced back at where Indigo had been heading and frowned. "Let's make it fast, then. Someone's waiting on me."

After a short trip through the bowels of the Colosseum that finished up with an elevator ride to the VIP level, the soldiers dropped Opher off at the closed door to Ironwood's suite. Before departing, one of them contacted the General via Scroll. A few seconds later, the door slid open. "Come in," Ironwood said, nodding over his shoulder.

Opher squinted suspiciously at him but obliged the request a moment later. "I'm sure this ain't a social call." As he walked toward the large, glassed rectangular opening that faced the arena, Opher noticed that Ironwood wasn't alone in the suite. A girl with bright orange hair, a tilted pink hair bow, and green eyes was seated in one of the other rooms; he only saw her through a doorway on the way past. Since she didn't react to his presence, Opher paid her no mind.

Ironwood stood beside him and gazed down at the mostly empty seats. "Both Ozpin and Qrow have struck out with you. It's my turn."

"I'm not sure I appreciate your tone," Opher stated frigidly. "Your turn to do what?"

The General donned a tiny smirk. "That depends on you, doesn't it? I don't know how many more carrots we can dole out."

"I know the other half of that saying, and trust me, you did _not_ bring a big enough stick." The Colosseum was too public a place for Ironwood to risk a fight, so Opher felt pretty safe despite the atmosphere. "Get to your point," he added curtly.

"There will be consequences for obstructing our investigation. Unless you start talking now." Opher's chuckling etched a grave frown on Ironwood's face.

"Consequences," he repeated after ceasing his laughter. "You're gonna lecture me about consequences?"

"People's lives may be at stake. You'd really keep silent and let them die?"

All the humor in Opher's face departed instantly. "They're gonna die anyway."

Disgust began to creep into Ironwood's voice. "That doesn't give you the right to deny them their natural lives, however long or short they may be."

Opher produced a small ice Dust crystal from one of the pockets on his legs and consumed it, much to Ironwood's surprise. "There are worse things than dying young," he said, letting out a long foggy breath afterward. "Like dying old. Or _not_ dying at all."

The General's shock quickly gave away to displeasure. "How can you be so _callous_ -"

He didn't let Ironwood finish, cutting him off with a blunt, "Eight thousand years of practice. It's funny how your perspective shifts with that much time." Another cloud of fog escaped his lips. "You wanna put me in jail? I'll outlive your prison. You want to extract your pound of flesh? Fine. Throw every soldier you've got at me. Wouldn't be the first time I handed the northern kingdom its ass."

A moment passed before Ironwood realized what Opher meant. "The Kasserine Pass incident?" he asked, turning away from the window. "You're owning up to it?"

Opher offered up a shrug before saying, "Sure." Then he allowed himself another chuckle. "It's a little weird hearing it called that. The pass, I mean."

"In what way?"

"Kasserine was my mother's name. Carmine's expedition took it with her back to Mantle after our first little skirmish. I can't believe it's stuck for eight hundred years." Opher walked away from the window for a few steps before turning away from Ironwood again.

"Carmine… Lady Tanager?" the General asked.

"Yeah." Suddenly, Opher cracked a weird little smile. "That's not the only legacy I've left, either."

Ironwood's eyes became slits. "Do I even want to know?"

A smiling Opher examined the tattoos on his forearm. "If I remember my history correctly, when Mantle gambled its divisions on reaching Cape Nadir and failed, they lost the ability to continue prosecuting the Great War." He nailed Ironwood down with a piercing stare. "What was it… six, seven months later, they had to sue for peace? How many hundreds of thousands of lives did I save by _accident_?"

The General found himself at a loss. "I…"

"Oh, and as a byproduct, I snuffed out Mantle and brought about the rise of Atlas. Oops. My bad." Opher's stare became a wry gaze. "It must be pretty strange, being able to talk to one of the literal fathers of your Kingdom." Ironwood had nothing else to say, so Opher shrugged and looked to the side. "One evening of work and I changed the course of the entire planet. That ain't the sort of power I feel like throwing around, you know."

"Don't be ridiculous! You could change history again! Help us!" Ironwood urged him firmly, only for his posture to soften when Opher shook his head.

"Eh. What's the point? Everything fades. People, kingdoms; hell, I've already reached the point where I can see mountains wearing away." Opher emitted another long puff of foggy air and turned his back on the General. Doing so let him focus on the one thing he really wanted. Before he could think too long, however, his Scroll emitted a chime. "I've gotta go," he remarked after reading the message. "Indigo's waiting for me."

"Hold on. You still need to answer for what happened with Teams RWBY and JNPR."

Opher cast a hollow look at Ironwood before staring ahead again. "I guess I _should_ apologize, but…" He doffed his hat just long enough to rub back his brown hair. "What I did is no worse than what they'll face out there. And anyway, Pyrrha snapped me out of it."

This was something Qrow's footage hadn't shown; Ironwood took an immediate interest and walked over. "How so?"

"That girl looks _a lot_ like Carmine. Almost as much as Indigo looks like… hm." Opher tugged at his hat and started walking for the door. "Forget it."

Despite not yet having held Opher responsible for the incident in Forever Fall, Ironwood let the lanky man go. Once Opher had gone, he produced his Scroll and placed a call to one of the archivists working for Ozpin. The comment about Pyrrha had piqued the General's curiosity; something in Opher's distant eyes stuck with him. "I wonder," he muttered while waiting for the call to go through.

* * *

Evening fell by the time the first-round matches came to their conclusion. Team JNPR's tussle with Shade's Team BRNZ had been one of the last matches of the day, and like all the other battles, Ozpin had been watching on one of the screens above his office desk. He turned it off just as Peter Port announced the end of the broadcast and loosed a small sigh. "So far, so good," he said to the room's other occupant. "Although I wish you'd have let me know about your intentions ahead of time."

"We saw each other in the arena," Ironwood explained. "And anyway, I wasn't going to start a fight with him. Not there." He paused to empty the mug of coffee in his right hand and stand. "I agree with Qrow more now than I did this morning. Opher Riese's heart is too hard for us to reason with him."

Ozpin shed his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose. "I'm disappointed to hear-"

"Without some sort of leverage," Ironwood suddenly added. "And I think I might have found some."

"I beg your pardon?" The headmaster donned his glasses again as Ironwood set his open Scroll on the desk and slid it closer. What he saw on the screen stunned him into silence for several moments. "What made you order this trace?"

"Opher commented about how much Pyrrha Nikos resembled Lady Tanager. It got me to thinking." Ironwood nodded down at the device. "She's the one, isn't she? No doubt about it. This is just the icing on the cake."

"If it is true, then yes. Quite the icing." Ozpin handed the General back his Scroll. "Do we tell her?"

Ironwood shook his head once. "I don't think it's necessary for the mission. In fact, her knowing would only make things even more complicated for us."

Ozpin crossed his legs and settled back in the chair. "I suspect it wouldn't matter. If we inform either party, they'll tell whomever we left out of the loop." He gazed up at Ironwood. "We cannot give Opher Riese this information. Not right now."

The General cocked his head and frowned. "Why? It's just what we need to get him on our side, isn't it?"

"Do not be so quick to assume. How do you think he would react to Pyrrha's Guardianship while knowing this, _or_ the process we used to bestow it? I doubt he would be pleased." Ozpin nodded as Ironwood crossed his arms with a sigh. "Exactly. He's agitated enough about _something_. Hearing this at the wrong time may push him completely over the edge."

"Then what do you suggest?"

The headmaster steepled his fingers. "We must be absolutely sure your hunch is right. These records aren't enough. And if it is true, we might find this more useful in an emergency. A fulcrum to tilt him toward our side in a time of crisis, perhaps, when he doesn't have too much time to think about the particulars."

"All right." Ironwood brought up a screen over Ozpin's desk, this one linked to Amity Colosseum's internal security camera network. He scrolled through the video feeds until landing on a set that covered the arena seating. Opher was still in his seat with Indigo beside him. Both appeared to be waiting for the exiting crowd to thin out. "There he is." Ironwood made a note of the seat and section as Opher stood up and began to follow Indigo out. "I'll have someone check his seat and report back."

Ozpin nodded at him, all the while watching Opher and Indigo. "Good. Failing that, I can always ask for another meeting in person." He glanced at the timestamp in the corner of the image. "No point in delaying any longer." His next words were spoken into his open Scroll. "Glynda, please send Pyrrha Nikos to my office."

"I can't at the moment," was her hurried reply. "We've got an… issue out front."

"What's happening?" Ozpin asked, standing and grabbing his Scroll, as well as his cane. He and Ironwood made for the elevator on quick strides.

It took her a few moments to answer. "An altercation. I'm headed there now."

Ironwood stepped into the car after the headmaster unlocked it for him. "Who's involved?"

"Qrow and a woman I'm not familiar with. I believe she's a member of the Atlas military. White hair, pale… she looks sort of like Weiss Schnee, now that I think about it."

"Specialist Schnee!" the General snapped. "Damn it! I warned them both to keep away from each other!"

"We're on our way, Glynda," Ozpin added. "Keep them in check until we arrive."

* * *

Opher and Indigo departed their shuttle from the Colosseum just in time to catch a glimpse of the spectacle themselves. Indigo first noticed the crowd around it. "Uh, what's going on over there?" she asked while pointing ahead. As they looked on, Qrow and Winter's battle took to the air for a brief moment, turning into a rising waltz of summoned Grimm shadows and wide sword slashes before they dropped back to the ground. "What the hell?"

"I don't think I want to know," Opher muttered grumpily. But Indigo ran toward the fracas, and he felt compelled to follow her. They filtered through the spectators until reaching the front. The metallic sounds of weapons clashing heralded their arrival. Who Qrow was fighting and why mattered little to him; his main concern at the moment was that Indigo remained only an observer. He observed the rest of the scene and found a jagged crater in the pathway nearby, as well one of the columns that lined the path shattered.

Then his attention turned to the combatants. Their fight had ground to a halt, Winter's blade screeching against the edge of Qrow's broadsword as each tried to break the stalemate to their own advantage. The old Huntsman, facing Opher, noticed his presence first and lost just enough of his initiative for Winter to use a glyph to rob him of his footing and knock him away. "Are you insane?" she demanded, pointing her rapier at him. By now, however, Qrow's focus was clearly elsewhere. Winter turned to see what had caught his eye. "What?"

"Oh, no, don't mind me," Opher said to them both. "Weren't you two busy?"

"Huh. I think I've made my point," Qrow stated, resting his broadsword on a shoulder.

Indigo noted the atmosphere and nudged Opher for clarification. "Friends of yours?"

"We've met," he admitted while nodding to Qrow, "but her? Don't look at me." He at least recognized the resemblance to Weiss. "You look like a grown-up version of a girl I know."

Winter had no chance to answer him before a loud "Uncle Qrow!" rang out. The crowd parted as Ruby shot through its ranks, closely followed by a bewildered Weiss. She hung from her uncle's outstretched arm, grinning and kicking with glee. Qrow eyed her sideways blankly until she fell still and chirped a tiny "Hi!"

"Heh," he breathed, ruffling her hair with his free hand.

For her part, Weiss seemed no less happy to see Winter, but restraint kept her feet nailed to the ground. Both Indigo and Opher looked between the Schnees, trying to quantify their relationship. "Sisters?" Indigo wondered out loud.

"Probably," a thoughtful Opher agreed.

More arrivals parted the sea of humanity; Glynda showed up first, striding along with General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin a few steps behind. She repaired the damaged column with a flick of her riding crop and glared down at the crater. A muttered "Really?" escaped her lips before she set about trying to figure out the jigsaw puzzle of rubble.

"All right," Ozpin called, "I believe the fighting is over for the day, tournament-related or otherwise. There will be plenty of action tomorrow morning. We'll even have fresh popcorn." His words caused the crowd to begin breaking up.

While Indigo started off, Opher failed to move, forcing her to come back. "What?" she asked, looking around.

He fired a pointed look at Ozpin before smiling down at her. "Nothing. I'm coming."

"Huh?" Indigo glanced between him and the Professor and cocked her head. Something definitely felt off, but exactly what defied her.

"I've got a headache," Opher lied with a smirk. "I've spent the whole day being surrounded by screaming people, remember? In fact, I'm probably deaf in one ear now, thanks to you."

"Oh. Oh, yeah." This time Opher followed, so Indigo led him toward a bench to sit and wait for their airship back to Vale. They watched Ozpin and Ironwood depart with Qrow, Ruby, Winter, and Weiss in tow. The barely restrained joy Weiss exuded as she walked with her sister made Indigo smile. Both girls fired a wary glance at Opher on their way by, but Indigo didn't catch it. "Aw, that's cute."

Opher wasn't paying attention. "Hmm," he mumbled, more focused on trying to analyze the expression he'd seen on the headmaster's face. After a moment, he discarded it as unreadable and moved on to the present. "And this whole thing starts again tomorrow?"

"Sorta. The teams have twelve hours to elect two members to go on to the doubles round, and those begin…" Indigo had to consult her Scroll for an answer. "At two in the afternoon. So we've got more or less a full day at the shop tomorrow."

"Suits me just fine," Opher admitted, rubbing the left side of his head. He was simply glad to be done with the affair for now, and happier still that Cinder hadn't tried anything. Then again, if her plan didn't involve the festival, what could she be waiting for? He threw away those thoughts and looked back at his boss. "Our tickets are still good for the next round?"

"Yeah, but not for the final." Indigo crossed her arms in a huff and grumbled. "Sucks. Even the nosebleed seats for the final round are like, a thousand Lien each. Oh well, I can hang out with Schwarze at the pub and watch it there."

"I think I'd prefer that to being here in person."

"Man, you sound grumpy." Indigo gave him a playful nudge.

"Almost as grumpy as you were when Nora eliminated your new sniper friend."

Her nudges turned into a slap on the arm. "Hey! I'm glad JNPR won!"

Opher flicked her hand aside with a smile. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He then gazed toward the setting sun with a thoughtful frown. The scraping sounds of Glynda's ongoing path repair made him wince a few times; he glanced over to check her progress and found Mercury Black among the last vestiges of the scattering crowd. They made eye contact, but Mercury shirked it immediately and turned his back to depart. "Huh."

Indigo cast her eyes that way. "What?"

"Nothing," he said flatly. "Just waiting for Glynda to get done so my headache will go away."

"Don't feed me that shit. You've been eying the people ever since we got here this morning. What's up?"

"I didn't get this far without being suspicious, you know." Opher looked down at a skeptical Indigo and sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you I hate large gatherings?"

"Oh no you don't. You're acting too much like I did in the service. Like everyone's a possible enemy." Indigo crossed her arms with a huff. "You know something I don't? Do I need to bring my rifle tomorrow?"

Opher managed a wry smile despite feeling a bit cornered. "Indy, when I know, so will you."

* * *

Never had Opher been so glad for the quiet of his lonely apartment; he spent the evening hours decompressing in its silent embrace until night fell and the persistent call of sleep began to tug him toward the bedroom. But the moment he plugged up his Scroll to let it charge, however, the device rang. "Seriously?" he grumbled, moving to pluck it off the nightstand. It ceased ringing before he could even touch it. "Eh?"

Unwilling to wonder too much about why, Opher returned to the task of undressing only for his Scroll to start ringing again. "Oh, come on." This time he reached it quickly enough to check the screen. The caller's face was unexpected to say the least: Nora Valkyrie. "The hell?"

"Hi, skinny boy!" she chirped as soon as he tapped the button to answer.

"I cannot _possibly_ imagine what this could be about," Opher stated with a hand on his hip.

"Just seeing if you're still awake! Bye!" And then she was gone.

"What-" Opher exclaimed just before the line went dead. "...the hell." A moment later, the faint sound of knocking reached his ears. "Now what?" He donned his clothes again and shuffled, annoyed, into his pitch black living room just in time to hear more knocking. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled loudly.

Behind his front door stood an immensely flustered Pyrrha, clad not in her usual outfit, but a white hoodie and khaki pants. Her green eyes shone with an inexplicable anxiety that left Opher silent for a moment. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he remarked, nodding for her to come inside. She seemed to grow more antsy with every passing second. "What's going on?"

"He told me not to tell you, but you might be the only one who understands," the redhead muttered to herself. She turned on Opher and hit him with a frantic, "I don't know what to do!"

"About… what?" Opher asked while scratching at his hair.

"I…" Pyrrha dropped her hood and rubbed at her eyes. "I have a question."

"I'm waiting."

She removed her hand and pinned Opher down with a nervous gaze. "Do you know what a Maiden is?"


	25. Chapter 25

Opher regarded Pyrrha in silence for a moment before shutting his door and turning on the overhead light. He kept his mouth shut as he moved to sit on his sofa and stare off, frowning all the while.

"Well?" the redhead urged him, trying to remain as polite as possible despite the turmoil in her heart.

"Where'd you hear about them?" he finally asked, his gaze locked ahead.

"I…" Pyrrha needed a few seconds to compartmentalize the bombshells Professor Ozpin dropped on her earlier that evening. She wasn't supposed to be saying anything to _anyone_ , but in a desperate attempt to avoid dragging her team into this nightmare, she'd come to the one man she thought could weather any retribution from Beacon. "Does that matter?" she said at length.

"I guess not. I mean, I've got an idea already, but…" Opher abruptly made eye contact. "Yeah. I know exactly what a Maiden is."

"I see." Pyrrha cocked her head slightly. "What do you mean you have an idea about who told me?"

"Ozpin, right?"

She blinked at how quickly he got it right. "How did you know?"

Opher snorted and loosely crossed his legs. "He was the first person in Vale to bring up the topic of Maidens to me." He cast a serious look at Pyrrha as his smile ran away. "I bet you're wondering what else Ozpin has been up to, huh?"

"Yes…" Pyrrha sat heavily on the other end of the sofa and sighed, burying her face in her palms. "First you, now this. How blind have we been? Are these things you find out about as a Hunter?"

"Ha! I doubt that shit _very_ much." He smiled at the redhead's curious look and explained himself. "There are two Remnants: the one within the city walls, and the one beyond them. I'm more familiar with the latter." Opher turned his eyes ahead. "Then again… you probably could have lived your entire life without knowing what lurks in the shadows. It's a big world."

"How long have _you_ known?"

"Eh?" He idly rubbed at the tattoos on his arm and frowned. "If you mean about Maidens, a long time. Centuries."

Pyrrha, grasping for some knowledge with which to steady herself, plied him hastily with more questions. "Where did they come from? What are they? What happens when they die? How are they even _born_?"

Opher raised a hand to stop her onslaught. "Whoa, whoa, calm down." He paused to let her collect her breath, figuratively and literally, before beginning to address her questions. "First, I don't know where they came from or what they are. I know that they can do things I can't."

"But how?! What the Professor told me sounds like magic, not any sort of Aura-related manipulation I've ever heard of!"

"That's not much of a surprise. I get the feeling you all were trained in the art of Aura as a conduit for Dust." The gray ghost that occupied Opher's body exposed itself again, leaking from his shoulders until it formed a vaguely humanoid shape. Transparent arms draped themselves over his shoulders. "I learned a different way to fight."

Pyrrha leaned away as the thing's faceless head seemed to be staring at her. "What do you mean?"

"I told you how old I was." Opher shared a glance with his ghostly companion and frowned. "I was born in the time just before Dust. We learned to use Aura as a construct. A physical extension of our bodies."

"Is that what Maidens do?"

He didn't immediately have an answer for Pyrrha's question. "Hmm." Opher's mind wandered to his years with Carmine. "You know, Carmine couldn't explain it either. Best she ever came up with was that the Maiden's gift came from the planet, therefore she could use it to influence the planet. She was capable of a lot more precision with her power than I am with mine." Saying it out loud got Opher to thinking if the Maidens had the same sort of origin as his own. He discarded this thought for later. "Or she was when I knew her. I've got eight hundred more years of practice under my belt now."

"I see." Pyrrha, despite sounding calmer, still looked tremendously nervous. "Carmine was a Maiden? Did the… did it affect her in anyway? Mentally or emotionally, I mean?"

So strange was the question that Opher addressed it out loud. "That's a weird thing to ask," he stated with a pointed gaze. "As far as I know, it picks a soul from birth and-" He stopped short and glanced away. That might have been true before, but Cinder wasn't a born Maiden. The game had changed since he played it last; he wasn't sure what the rules were anymore.

"What?" Pyrrha leaned forward, his hesitance fueling her anxiety. "What's the matter?"

"Forget it. Anyway, they live with it all of their lives. You're kind of asking me to figure out what a Maiden would be like _without_ her power, and I don't know." Her question began to make sense in the context of what he knew. Ozpin had just divulged one of the world's greatest secret to Pyrrha; why? Why did she want to know about the effects of the Maiden's might on its _bearer_? Pieces began to fall into place, but he wanted to confirm the puzzle with Pyrrha first. "What did Ozpin tell you?"

"I…" The redhead stood up at the urging of her unsettled nerves and walked away. "I can't tell you what he told me. I'm not even supposed to be here right now."

Opher quietly stood up as well, but didn't approach her as he let his guess fly. "Ozpin has a damaged Maiden and he wants to give her power to you, doesn't he?"

A shocked Pyrrha whirled on him so fast her feet tangled up. She barely caught herself before tumbling to the carpet. "How did-" she gasped out. No more words would come until she caught her breath first. "How did you know that?!" she finally blurted out.

He shook his head with a tiny smile. No wonder Ozpin and Ironwood were working together; the Professor needed Atlas' Aura-related technology. It made sense. "The rules really have changed," he muttered to himself. In an instant, Pyrrha was on him, grabbing him by the shirt collar with both hands. "Excuse me?" he said, more annoyed than flustered.

"How did you know?!" she demanded again. "You can't-" She abruptly let him go and stepped back, her emotion cooling. "Did… Professor Ozpin tell you?"

Opher shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "I don't think that's important," he muttered under his breath. Before Pyrrha could grill him again, more knocking rang out from his front door. "Oh, come on," he said while rolling his eyes.

Behind the door he found a wild-eyed, heavily breathing Jaune, who immediately saw Pyrrha and tried to shove his way past to reach her. "What the heck is going on?!"

Opher let him by with a groan and shut the door. "You didn't tell your team, did you?"

"You're darn right she didn't!" Jaune stood before the flustered redhead. "Okay, look, I tried to let you have your space and all, but I can't take it anymore! Pyrrha, please, what happened? Are you in trouble?"

"No, Jaune," she replied weakly, unable to meet his gaze. "It's nothing. Really."

"Nothing? Are you serious? You threw me at the library! That's not something you do about _nothing_! You won't tell me, you won't tell Nora and Ren… why? Why?" Unable to contain his worry, Jaune took to pacing circles around Pyrrha. "Oh!" He snapped his gaze over to Opher. "Oh, but you'll run and tell _him,_ huh?"

"Do you really have to do this in my living room?" Opher replied with a flawlessly deadpan tone.

"Jaune, it's… it's complicated!" was the best an overwhelmed Pyrrha could come up with. "I will handle it. It's my problem."

The scraggly blonde zipped over and grabbed her by the shoulders. "If you're gonna handle it, why get him involved?!"

"Because…" Defeated, the redhead wrapped her arms around herself and wilted on her feet. "Opher is the only one that might be able to give me advice."

"Wh-" Jaune snapped his eyes between her and Opher several times in gobsmacked silence. "Will _somebody_ please explain to me what is-"

Pyrrha straightened up and cut him off firmly. "It's better if you don't know!"

Her words were as effective as a kick to the gut for Jaune, who doubled over and turned away. "Why would you say that?" he asked lowly.

"She's not entirely wrong."

Both Jaune and Pyrrha looked at a mostly unmoved Opher, who regarded them with loosely crossed arms and a blank face. He shrugged at their attention and glanced away. "This is life-changing stuff. I'm just saying."

"You…" Overcome with confusion and frustration, Jaune misinterpreted Opher's tone as dismissive and threw a straight left at the lanky man's face. While it found its target, he felt like he'd just slugged a building and withdrew his fist, shaking it furiously. "Aaaaaaaaaagh!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha snapped, rushing over to put herself in front of the violent reaction she expected to come next. "He didn't…" Her words faded as Opher failed to move, much less counterattack. "He didn't mean to do that, I'm sure," she concluded at length, determined to get the point across on Jaune's behalf.

"Of course he meant to do it," Opher remarked. "He's mad." He paused to lightly scratch where Jaune had struck and smile. "Well, mad and confused, probably, since you left him out of the loop."

Between low grumbles, Jaune continued to shake the pain out of his hand. "I just want to know what's going on here, Pyrrha," he said at length. "What could be so bad that it would make you come to Opher for help over us?"

She continued to be evasive with him. "I didn't know what else to do. I… panicked." The redhead toyed with her ponytail nervously and looked between them.

"Okay, I'm already tired of this. Professor Ozpin wants to turn Pyrrha into a Maiden. You know, from the fairy tales? Except they're not stories." Opher folded his arms and regarded Pyrrha's open-mouthed horror with a grin before continuing. "Oh, don't give me that look. He was gonna figure it out sometime. And even if he didn't, you were gonna tell him, I bet. You wouldn't have held out for long."

"Wait. You mean the-my sisters used to tell me… really?" Jaune's brain disengaged for a moment to digest this news; it snapped back to the present when he focused on his upset partner. "Did you say yes or no?"

"I have a few days to decide," she replied weakly. "I thought that, since Opher was immortal, he might have met the Maidens before. That he might be able to tell me what they were like."

"She was right, by the way," Opher confirmed while sitting again. "Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are. How does Ozpin plan on doing this shit if you agree to it? What's he so afraid of to even be thinking about it? Seems pretty drastic."

"He didn't say." Exhausted, Pyrrha plopped down on the sofa as well, hiding her eyes with both hands. "Jaune, I'm sorry. I should have told you all first, but I didn't want any of you to get in trouble."

"I… guess I understand. I mean, what are they gonna do to you, right?" Jaune said with a snort to Opher. "Um, sorry about trying to knock you out."

The lanky man cast a glance at Jaune's hand. "Did I break anything?"

"Nah. But, uh… ow. Seriously, ow."

"I'll apologize on my Aura's behalf." Opher's posture grew more relaxed as he let Pyrrha and Jaune collect themselves a bit. "You've got a decision to make," he noted to Pyrrha, "and I can't offer you much help. It's gotta be up to you."

"I know," the redhead sighed through her fingers. "I suppose we'd better be getting back. Nora and I have a fight to get ready for."

"Yeah… yeah." Jaune rubbed at his neck with a frown.

"Hold on a second." A curious Opher regarded Pyrrha until she looked at him. "If you didn't tell anyone else, why did Nora call me just before you showed up?"

"I only asked her to call you. She doesn't know why." Pyrrha stood up and sighed. "I didn't want to call myself. I wasn't sure if Ozpin was monitoring my Scroll."

This only made Opher more curious. "Hmm. You don't trust him either?"

"Why should I?" the redhead countered evenly. "Look at what he's been hiding. Not just from me, but from everyone."

"Huh." Opher stroked his chin in thought. "We've all got secrets. Some are bigger than others."

"That's… ugh," Jaune mumbled unhappily. "Remember when all we had to do was kill Grimm? Now my head hurts."

"Ah, the good old days. I know the feeling. Anyway, I'm not gonna tell anyone about our little chat." After all, the more he could withhold from Ozpin, the better his chances of a fight. Opher nodded toward the door. "I'll be at the Colosseum again tomorrow. If you want to talk about the problem some more, come find me. Maybe you can give Indigo another autograph."

The redhead's lips pursed in thought. "We'll have to stay out of sight. I'm not sure the Professor would be happy to hear about me speaking to you." Despite everything, Pyrrha managed a smile at Opher on her way out. "And as for the autograph… well, I'd be happy to."

"Ah, we'll figure something out. I hope." Jaune tried to rub the pressure out of his temples and groaned. "Just as long as you don't launch me at another building."

"I… I'm sorry," an embarrassed Pyrrha muttered apologetically.

* * *

And a secret their encounter was, at least if the radio silence from Beacon's end was any indication. The passage of a relatively normal day at Diamond Dust brought Opher and Indigo to the stroke of noon. They had just completed the process of locking up and leaving so they'd have time to deal with the crowds of people trying to reach the tournament. "Hey, hey," she chirped to an absent-minded looking Opher, "You think if Yang wins the whole thing, she'll endorse the shop? I mean, it's my ammo in her weapons. I totally helped."

"If you'd made it yourself, you might have a shot," he remarked, gaze affixed to something down the street. His face softened just long enough to register the unintentional pun. "Ugh."

"Hold on, she coulda bought it from anywhere! I should get some credit." Indigo's hands went to her hips when Opher failed to agree or disagree. "What are you _staring_ at?" she eventually demanded, also shifting her eyes toward the end of the road.

"I'm enjoying the relative peace and quiet. I've got, what, four hours of screaming to look forward to, remember?"

With a roll of her ochre eyes, Indigo turned away and produced her Scroll. "I'll _try_ to have less fun for your sake, sheesh." She thumbed through the tournament bracket to plan their day. "Let's see… Yang and Weiss are the last match. We got Pyrrha and Nora just before intermission. I guess we can stop by Schwarze's table at the concessions and try the food before she drives me up the fucking wall about forgetting to see her yesterday." She abruptly fell silent upon seeing one of the people in the bracket. "...huh."

"What?" Opher said, at last regarding her.

"She looks kinda familiar." Indigo showed him the picture of Emerald. "Her hair is pretty. I used to style mine like that."

He seized on that useless bit of information to hide his concern about Indigo possibly recognizing her attacker. "Really?"

"Yeah, but it's been a while." She flicked her Scroll closed, put it away, and continued walking. "Where have I seen that chick before?"

Unwilling to linger too long on the subject before Indigo managed to jog her memory, Opher began to complain again. "Probably on the streets, because I think everyone on fucking Remnant is in this city right now." He looked up at the floating hulk of Amity Colosseum, miles distant in the somewhat cloudy sky. "I still say we'd get there so much faster if you'd just let _me_ do the flying." He blinked when Indigo came to an abrupt halt. "What?"

Indigo eyed him with an intensity he hadn't seen since their sojourn under Mountain Glenn. "You know what? Let's do it. Once in that line was enough, and I sure as hell don't wanna lose our seats."

"You're serious?" She nodded only once; hardly enough time for Opher to undertake an internal query about how much Dust he had on hand. Gravity outweighed wind at the end of this check, though he didn't have much of either variety to spare. Despite this, he held out a hand for her to grab; anything to stop her from thinking too long about Emerald's visage. "Then, shall we?"

"Yeah." She took his hand and jumped a little when gravity's hold on their feet simply ceased to exist and they floated into the air. "Isn't there usually a breeze when you do this shit?"

Opher glanced down at the passersby, who were taking pictures and gawking at the sight. "I got my hands on some gravity Dust. It's less noisy."

Quieter, sure, but far more strange as far as Indigo was concerned. She looked down too, staring at the nonchalant way Remnant receded beneath them. "Dude, you're straight out of a fucking comic book."

He grinned at her assessment. "Never heard that one before." He then pointed at the Colosseum with his free hand. "Hang on tight. Here we go."

"Yeah." Indigo's grip became iron as they moved, but with no sound and hardly any fury to show for it. The sensation was a gentle, constant embrace, seeing them off into the clouds. While the buildings whipped by under them at shocking speed, the bubble of force surrounding them muffled any rush of air. So quiet was their journey that Indigo could hear the honking of a flock of geese as they flew by. "Wow," she mumbled, watching the birds for a moment.

"Yeah, I hate those loud bastards. Atlas is full of them in the summer." before long, Opher fell in with the other airship traffic heading toward the Colosseum. "I wish I could see the looks on those pilots' faces," he said, thumbing at a shuttle behind them.

Indigo managed the bravery to turn and look. "Well, the guy in the left seat appears to be losing his shit. Co-pilot's taking a picture." She waved for the camera. "We're probably gonna be on the news in a few minutes."

A gaudily-decorated aircraft to their left had Opher smirking even harder. "I think we already are," he said, waving toward it.

"Hey, that's VNN!" Indigo produced her Scroll and, with some awkward one-handed fiddling, managed to bring up the station's livestreaming app. "Holy shit, man, look!"

"Huh?" Opher glanced over to see Lisa Lavender relaying the breaking news of their flight to the rest of Vale. "Oh. Well." The concept of that many eyes startled him a bit, leading to a briefly bumpier ride.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Indigo complained. She suddenly noticed a distinct feeling of falling. In fact, their forward progress had ceased entirely. "Uh… why are we going down?"

Opher's face was like stone as he stared ahead. "I ran out of gravity Dust."

" _You fucking what_?!" Indigo shrieked, so terrified that she wrenched her hand free and tumbled, screaming, toward the ground.

He emitted a whisper-soft breath; in that time, Opher checked how much wind Dust he still contained, realized it wasn't enough to get them to their destination, and decided to fall back on plan C instead. What little wind Dust he had went toward gaining the airspeed to catch Indigo as his Aura sprang into action. Opher reached his falling, wailing boss about twenty seconds after she'd started to plummet and grabbed her by both hands. "Hang on!" he ordered through her yelling.

"We're gonna die, you god damned asshole!" she screamed back at him, just before their fall came to a curving halt and turned into an ascent again. "You fuck-" Indigo went silent and watched the surface lazily drift away. "Oh. We're…" Rhythmic noise made her look back and up. Opher had sprouted translucent wings of grayish light; their every beat lifted the pair higher into the air. "...f-fine?"

"Grab her, would you?" Opher muttered to his essence. Tendrils of glowing gray snaked out of his wrists and wrapped around Indigo's arms. "There we go."

She knew it was his Aura, but could hardly process the concept. "Did you just talk to yourself?" she asked, her panicked mind taking the path of least resistance.

"I guess." Opher allowed himself a little chuckle before concentrating on the rest of their trip. On the heavy strokes of his ghostly wings, they made excellent progress toward the Colosseum. "Sorry about this. I thought I had more Dust."

Indigo, too nervous to speak, kept her mouth shut for the rest of the trip. Ten minutes later, they reached the safety of Amity Colosseum's arrivals deck. A massive crowd had gathered to see them fly in; Scrolls and cameras blinded her with flashes. "Get away from me!" she demanded angrily. "Move, damn it!" They wouldn't part; the crush only grew worse. "Come on! Move!"

Annoyed with their failure to comply, Opher dislodged them for her. Connecting himself to the crowd with gossamer threads of Aura, he sent the tiniest jolt of electricity into their bodies. They all yelped and stepped back almost as one, looking around for the source of their pain. "Thank you," he muttered caustically, escorting Indigo away. Unfortunately, General Ironwood stood ahead of them. "Oh, great."

"What was all of that about?" the General asked as he ushered them away from the recovering crowd. "Four city news networks broke into tournament coverage to show you," he added lowly.

"Uh oh, are you in trouble?" Indigo asked.

"Not really, no." Opher said as he regarded Ironwood icily. "I am _so_ very sorry about the spectacle."

Like yesterday, Indigo picked up on the strange atmosphere between the two men, and now, as then, she couldn't explain their relationship. "Hey, what's goin' on here? You gave Ozpin the stinkeye yesterday, now you're doing it to him." She halted a bit before adding a hasty "Uh… sir," to avoid Ironwood's ire.

"You don't have to address me as sir. You aren't in uniform." The General followed up with a ready lie. "As for Mister Riese, we've been in contact since the breach."

"Ohhhh." Indigo blinked a few times. "So… you know he blew himself up in the train tunnel, right?"

"I do, yes. At least that happened out of the public eye." Ironwood pinned his gaze to Opher as they walked. "How do you expect the media to explain what they just saw?"

"Aw, what's the big deal?" Indigo said dismissively. "They can handle it." A look at her Scroll proved otherwise, however, especially on the social media front. Dozens of people referred to Opher as some sort of angel; among them were a couple of rather prominent religious figures. "Uh… on second thought…"

Ironwood had also produced his Scroll to monitor the situation and rolled his eyes. "Terrific. I hope you're enjoying the attention," he muttered to Opher.

As usual, the lanky man was unmoved. "Don't get pissed at me. You can't hide this shit forever," he warned the General lowly, before turning to Indigo. "Are we goin' to see Schwarze first, or what?"

"Yeah, I guess." She waved toward one of the side corridors. "Over there."

"Fine." Opher parted company with Ironwood and disappeared with Indigo into the crowd.

The General glared at his back until he lost sight of it, then looked back at his Scroll to issue an order to the Colosseum's security detail. "I want eyes on Opher Riese at all times," he commanded. "He's caused enough of a frenzy for one day."

* * *

The first three matches went by easily enough, incessant screaming from Indigo and the rest of the audience aside. The battle before Pyrrha and Nora were scheduled to fight, however, could be a problem. Emerald and Mercury would be facing Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi from Team CFVY; this meant Emerald's smug face would be plastered on the big screen for at least a few minutes. A steely-eyed Opher considered this problem in silence while Indigo tittered on about the previous match in the seat beside him. "I didn't know they even made axes that turn into skateboards, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure all of those weapons are custom jobs. And they probably cost a fortune," he replied idly. A cheer went up as the next match was announced. "This should be fun."

Indigo caught something in Opher's tone and looked at him. "Huh? Why?"

"I've run into Coco Adel a couple of times. Let's see if she can back up her talk when half of her team is missing."

"Oh, yeah?" Indigo squinted at Coco as she and Yatsuhashi strode toward the center of the arena. "They wouldn't have voted her through otherwise. Besides, she's got a fuckin' _minigun_."

"I know. It's almost adorable." Opher tensed up as Emerald and Mercury were introduced next, just waiting for the realization to hit Indigo. She said nothing, however. Seconds later, he noticed an usher approaching from the right with her eyes firmly on him. "Yeah?" he asked upon her arrival, expecting it would be a message about Ironwood wanting to see him for some reason or another.

If that were true, the usher didn't make note of it right away. "Would you follow me, please?"

"Huh? What's going on?" Indigo stood as Opher did, but blinked when the usher shook her head.

"Just him, please." She waited politely until Indigo took her seat again, then nodded for Opher to follow.

"Eh, I'll be back directly," he assured his boss with a grin. "Save my seat."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved him off with her own smirk. "You're probably just happy to get away from the crowd, you weirdo."

With a brief laugh, Opher tailed the usher out of the central arena and around its periphery until they descended, via an elevator, into an area he'd never been before. Seeing Ironwood yesterday had required an ascent; this usher was leading him into the bowels of the structure instead, where even the most raucous yelling of the crowd above became muffled and distant. While Opher felt no personal threat from being isolated, he was a little worried about Indigo being exposed to Emerald's face without him around to distract her. "What's this about?" he finally asked.

Their journey ended just after he spoke; the usher came to a halt near a red door and stood at its side. "One of the combatants would like to speak with you. That's all I know."

"Eh?" It had to be Pyrrha. Opher set his jaw and entered the green room, a posh space with walls full of televisions and sofas of all sorts allayed in the center. Nora and Pyrrha were its only occupants. "I knew it," he said as the usher closed the door behind him.

"She's freakin' out again," Nora explained as he walked over. "I guess I would be too, but…"

"It's just so much to think about!" the redhead lamented. "I had to make Jaune leave. He's too worried, which makes _me_ worry, and… you get the point." She straightened up with a sigh and looked at Opher. "What could Carmine do? With her power, I mean."

Opher rubbed the back of his neck and stared off into the distant past. Even bringing up the finer details of Carmine's face was a struggle; most of what she'd done was long lost to the mists of time. There was one thing that stood out to him, however. "This is gonna sound weird, but she could make things grow. Plants, I mean. The Spring Maidens used to be the only reason Mantle could even grow food in the winter before modern technology showed up. Those people considered her a goddess. Literally. She had her own church."

Pyrrha spent a few silent moments digesting all of this while the crowd screamed about the fight above. "How did she do it?" Her brow furrowed when Opher looked away and shrugged. "You don't understand either?"

"I'm immortal, sweetheart, not omniscient." The crowd roared again, forcing Opher to gaze at the ceiling. He hoped it wasn't because Indigo had finally pegged Emerald's face and tried to charge the arena. "You know… whatever his reasons, if Ozpin picked you, he must have a lot of faith."

"I'm not sure if I feel the same way about him. He was rather evasive." Pyrrha clasped her hands and peered at the carpet. "Why are they hiding this history from us?"

Opher's thoughts abruptly turned to Cinder before moving on to his own assaults against Maidens through the centuries. He conveniently left both items out of the discussion. "'Cause their power is the kind people want. Whatever the cost." Sensing how heavy this made the air, he added, "I guess some things are better off as legends."

"Are they like, the strongest people on the planet, then?" Nora chimed in.

He nodded at her. "They're probably pretty damn close."

"Stronger than _you_?"

Caught off-guard by the question, Opher turned away and folded his arms in thought. "Yes and no," he eventually said over his shoulder, "They might hit harder, but I've got durability on my side."

"I just wish you could tell me what the power does to someone." Pyrrha took to pacing slowly around the room. "I don't want to agree to this and then… what if I go insane and start… I mean…" She couldn't bear finishing the thought mentally, much less uttering it.

"Then I'm sure Ozpin will stop you. And if he doesn't, I just might."

Nora cocked a brow before glowering at Opher. "I don't think I like your tone, skinny boy."

"I'd like the situation less, if I were you." He turned and stared at Pyrrha. "Best I can offer is, I don't think the power would drive you bonkers. It doesn't work like that. Then again… there haven't been half-Maidens before. Like I said last night, the rules have changed. I don't know what happens when the power is split." Thumping sounds from outside made all three of them look. "What was that?"

"I dunno." Nora walked toward the door to investigate just as more muffled thumps rang out. They weren't knocks, but heavy footsteps. "Somebody outside?"

Hands shoved in his pockets, Opher stepped over to her and stood before the door. A reluctant Pyrrha was on his heels. "Hmm…" Seconds later, it flew open, revealing a displeased General Ironwood and several soldiers with weapons drawn. "Uh oh," Opher said through a grin, "What are you so pissed about?"

Ironwood glanced past him at the unsettled Pyrrha, put two and two together, and turned slightly to one of the soldiers. "Have that usher detained. I want a-"

An announcement from overhead interrupted him. "Our next contest will begin in five minutes! Nora Valkyrie and Pyrrha Nikos of Beacon versus…"

The rest was lost to Nora's shouting. "Yeah! Time to go!" But the soldiers wouldn't clear the way for either girl. "Excuse me? We've got a fight. Weren't you listening?"

"Nora," the redhead warned quietly, grip tightening on her sword and shield.

"What is he doing here?" Ironwood asked Pyrrha. She clammed up and looked away, unwilling to say anything about anything. "Miss Nikos," he added, "remaining silent is not an-"

"I know everything."

Pyrrha snapped her eyes over to Opher. "What are you doing?!"

"I know. _Everything_." He crossed his arms and smiled at Ironwood, though his eyes were like glaciers. "How long did you think you could keep it under wraps, huh? Especially from someone like me."

After a few moments of tense silence, Ironwood nodded to Nora and Pyrrha. "There'll be too much of a stir if you're no-shows for the fight. Go ahead. But you're staying here after your match ends. We need to talk."

"Yes, sir." Pyrrha waved for Nora to follow as the soldiers parted and started off, but hesitated just outside the door. "What are you going to do to-"

The General cut her short, gaze still firmly on a smiling Opher. "Nothing you need to worry about. Go." He waited until they were out of sight before speaking again, this time to one of his troops. "Shut the door." Ironwood clasped his hands behind his back and walked slowly past Opher. "You don't really know anything, do you?"

"I mean, besides Ozpin having a half-Maiden whose power he wants to give to Pyrrha, nah." His smirk only grew when Ironwood drew and aimed his revolver; another idiot with guns, he thought. Unlike Emerald's sleek firearms, this particular one seemed incredibly bulky and ridiculous. Opher regarded the weapon with a caustic smirk. "Oh no. You gonna shoot me? I'm terrified."

"If you're telling the truth, the only way you could have figured this out without Pyrrha telling you is…" Ironwood growled lowly. "You've met the person that attacked Amber and you're hiding their identity. Why? Are you working for Salem?"

Another roar from above made both men glance up briefly. Opher considered his options and realized he probably had none. If he talked, Cinder's plan was a failure and Ozpin would consider him a hero. If he stalled, he put everything into Cinder's hands, and god only knew when or if she'd make her move. More waiting, piled upon the hundreds of years' worth he'd endured already, was too much for him to stomach any longer, especially when he seems so close. His patience for the whole affair had finally run out. An idea suddenly struck him, one he hadn't had in a long while. If he wanted this done right, he should do it himself. Centuries of passiveness and pretending to be normal had gotten him nowhere, and even if he had to retreat to defend the sacred valley, he'd at least buy himself one hell of a sendoff as the new war began. Maybe it would be just explosive enough to put him down. "Fuck it all," he breathed to himself, "I'm done being a passenger. It's time."

Ironwood, in the meantime, had grown impatient with Opher's silence. He cocked the hammer and snarled. "Answer me!" The lanky man refused, but his sudden shift in demeanor told the General to prepare for a fight. "You're under arrest," he stated coldly, "for endangering Kingdom security. _Multiple_ Kingdoms' security, in fact. And one way or another, you're going to answer our questions."

"I beg to differ; there's nothing left for me to say." Multiple ghostly hands reached up from the carpet, tugging Ironwood's gun off-target and down toward the floor. As the General tried to regain control of his arm, more hands wrapped their fingers around his face.

"What is this?!" the General screamed, prompting his soldiers to breach the door with guns at the ready.

Opher snapped his right hand over toward them, enveloping their helmets in ice while his Aura shoved them out into the corridor. He held the pose until certain their heads were frozen to the wall. "A war's coming, right? Well, I finished the last one. I may as well start the next." He walked over to the struggling Ironwood and placed a hand on his chest. "Your game has a new player." He punctuated this truth with a crackling jolt of pink lightning that blasted Ironwood out of his Aura's grasp and against one of the screens across the room. "And I think it's my turn." He walked over and drove a sneaker into Ironwood's chest to keep him down before electrocuting him again, and, with the help of his Aura's grip, hurling him into the corridor. He sauntered out after the General, only to find a stunned Emerald and Mercury standing to his left. "Fancy meeting you idiots here."

"What the hell?" Emerald gasped, unsure how to react to what she was seeing. She glanced at the limp soldiers frozen to the wall and blinked. "Uh…"

As the staggered Ironwood tried to stand, Opher drove an ice-clad uppercut into his chin and launched him into the ceiling. Now certain the General was out cold, he turned his attention to Cinder's associates. "I know everything," he repeated.

"Nobody's denying you're a smartass," Mercury fired back, crouched and ready to strike.

Opher snorted once and adjusted his hat. "Fuck your plan. I'm tired of waiting." He turned on his heel and walked away from them.

"Okay?" As Opher left, Mercury eyed General Ironwood and the soldiers. "Are we supposed to do something about this?"

Emerald was one step ahead of him. "I'm telling Cinder," she said, producing her Scroll to make the call. "Ma'am, where are you?"

"Watching Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie make a mockery out of the fine art of combat, why?" was her snide response.

"Uh, well…" The thief hesitated as she tried to frame the insanity of the situation. "Opher Riese just attacked General Ironwood. Knocked him out cold. I don't know why. He saw us in the hallway and said he was tired of waiting. What should we do?" No reply. Cinder's silence grew so long as to become awkward. "Ma'am?"

"Take video and pictures. Send them to every news network in Vale," was her mistress' reply. "We will use the chaos he has so kindly provided us."

"Right." Emerald started recording just in time to catch Opher disappearing around the curved corridor before her focus went to the General and his fallen troops. "What else, ma'am?"

"Meet me at the departures deck before they lock down the Colosseum. I need to get in touch with our Faunus friend."

"Oh, hell," Mercury breathed through a grin, "Looks like it's game on."


	26. Chapter 26

Nora finished off the doubles round much as she had the team round; a mighty swing of Magnhild sent both of her opponents flying into the energy shield around the arena, ending their fight. Ozpin noted the time. There was a while to go before Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee would be fighting. All seemed quiet. The festival, despite the crowds, ran smoothly. Qrow had nothing suspicious to report. Not even the usually easily-agitated James Ironwood had bothered him for the last half hour. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps Salem wasn't targeting the festival after all.

But if not this event, then _what_? There wouldn't be a stage so grand for another two years, when the festival would move on to Vacuo. With this perspective, the continued calm suddenly became suspicious in the headmaster's eyes. Something had to be wrong, somewhere. It always was. He decided to check with Qrow again.

"Eh? Nah, everything's fine around here," the old Huntsman assured him.

Ozpin cocked a brow; based on the background noise, wherever his friend was, a stiff breeze was blowing. "Where are you, exactly?"

"The arrivals deck. Just, you know, eyeballing the civilians."

The headmaster surveyed the campus that spread out below his office windows and frowned. "Hmm. I see."

Qrow caught the mild displeasure in his tone and quickly agreed with it. "Yeah, I know. Almost too quiet, ain't it?"

"Indeed. Contact me if _anything_ seems untoward." Ozpin ended this call and placed another, only to find to his surprise that General Ironwood didn't answer. This immediately piqued his concern. Before he could even begin getting in touch with Glynda, however, the elevator arrived and she nearly fell through the doors in her rush to enter. The look on her face said it all; something _was_ wrong. "Glynda? What's happening?"

"VNN," she said breathlessly, waving at the screen over his desk. "Quickly!"

"Why?" he asked while changing the channel. What he saw splayed across the lower third of the screen nearly made him drop his coffee mug. "General Ironwood Attacked" shrieked the bold text; the rest of the image was of a shaky Scroll video showing him on the floor of a corridor in Amity Colosseum, with some soldiers nailed with ice to the wall nearby. The video looped, showing the back of the retreating Opher as it started again. Ozpin had no words for the sight.

"Professor!" Glynda urged him. "What-"

"Lock down the campus," he ordered calmly while tapping at his Scroll. His fingers danced out a brief message to Qrow and sent it on. "Organize the students and prepare them to fight."

"Fight what?" she asked reflexively. Her face softened. "I…"

"A half-Maiden, the Grimm, Opher Riese, or all of the above," the headmaster replied gravely. He glanced away as his Scroll rang.

Ironwood's unsteady voice came through when he answered. "Ozpin… he…"

The headmaster maintained his almost-icy composure despite the unfolding situation. "I know, James, I know. How are you holding up?"

"Fine. My systems are a little scrambled. Riese put a lot of voltage through me." A quick breath later, the General added, "He knows. He knows about Amber. And I'd bet my left arm he knows who attacked her."

"I see." Ozpin glanced away again, then at Glynda. "Go!" he commanded her firmly. She darted off like a gazelle, leaving him alone in the office. "James, can you command?"

"I'm already headed back to my airship. Ozpin, he knows about Pyrrha too."

"Damn!" Ozpin's stoic facade slipped for an instant before he recovered enough to issue further orders. "Glynda is setting up our defenses here. I need you to do the same for the Colosseum."

"I think we should evacuate the civilians first."

"Agreed. Get everyone out before the news spreads and panic starts." Ozpin's head tilted when Ironwood failed to answer promptly. "James?"

When his reply finally came, it was laced with worry. An indecipherable announcement boomed over the Colosseum's PA system as he spoke. "I think I might be too late. Someone just ordered an evacuation and it wasn't me." Distant screaming followed his words. "Opher is on the move. The crowd's trying to run from him. I'll pursue-"

"No, you won't," Ozpin corrected him firmly. "Get to your flagship and take charge of your army, James. We're going to need every soldier you've got."

"All right. It might take me some time to find a way off of this thing."

"Understood." Ozpin closed his eyes and sighed. "James… find Pyrrha Nikos and make sure she gets here at all costs. We're out of time."

* * *

Pyrrha and Nora were long gone from the arena when the evacuation order went out over the public address system. A second later, Jaune and Ren came running into the corridor as the two girls tried to return to the tournament participants' waiting area. "Jaune!" the redhead called. "What's happening?!"

"Opher!" was all he exclaimed as he slid to a stop in front of them. Once he'd caught his breath, he added, "I don't know what happened, but he's all over every news channel in Vale. They said he attacked General Ironwood."

"What the heck? What for?" a surprised Nora asked.

"No idea." Ren nodded past her as someone else arrived. "Perhaps she knows."

A nearly-frantic Indigo was the new presence; on her heels was all of Team RWBY, weapons brandished and scanning every inch of the area as they ran. "What in the hell is going on?!" the swarthy woman shrieked. "Where did he go? I haven't seen him since the fight before yours started!"

"We don't know." Jaune nodded to Ruby as the nine of them formed up and started running as one. "Ideas?"

"We gotta figure out where he went first," she replied. "And keep everyone as far away from that place as possible."

"We should probably head topside, then," Yang advised. "We're waaaay too isolated down here anyway. He if shows up-"

They all looked up as the evacuation order went out again, but this time it was followed by something worse. "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level six. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

"Oh. Lovely. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse," Weiss remarked sarcastically.

"Oh, crap," Ruby hissed, sliding to an awkward halt. "The people on the open decks are gonna be in trouble if Nevermores show up! We have to get up there and protect them!"

"What about Opher?" a worried Indigo interjected.

"Haven't you seen the news? Fuck Opher!" Yang shouted while cramming ammunition into Ember Celica. "This is all his fault anyway." By now, the dead soldiers outside of the green room had come into view. The blonde nodded at Indigo, then toward the guns on the floor. "You're gonna need some way to defend yourself. Grab one and come with us."

"I…" Indigo overcame her hesitation after a few seconds and snatched two rifles off of the floor. "I need to find Schwarze first. I'll catch up."

"Okay. Good luck." Ruby gave the swarthy woman a little salute before turning on her heel and sprinting back the way she'd come. "It's time to rock and roll!" she yelled over her shoulder at her team and Jaune's. "Come on!"

* * *

Utter chaos greeted them as they burst onto the lowest open-air deck of the Colosseum. Terrified people ran in every direction, though from what none of the young students could guess; the structure was enveloped in clouds, reducing visibility to barely a few yards beyond the edge of the platforms. As Ruby watched, a family near the edge lost one of their children to the talons of a Nevermore prowling in the mist. The mother nearly fell off the Colosseum trying to grab the toddler. "There!" Ruby pointed, unfurling Crescent Rose and dashing off. "Hold on! We're coming!"

"Ruby! Wait!" Weiss yelled, chasing after her partner. They arrived just in time to see more claws flash out of the fog and take the wailing mother too.

"No!" Ruby opened fire with Crescent Rose, shooting blindly into the clouds until Yang jerked her away. "Let me go! I have to help-"

"You can't. Not now." The blonde had to firmly guide her sister away from the weeping remains of the family and back toward Blake and Weiss. Ruby fought her at almost every step. "Ruby, no."

"But… but…"

"You can't save everyone, sis." Yang looked back at an explosion of screaming. "What's-"

Ruby looked as well. Packs of Griffons began to alight on the deck and tear into the panicked hordes. "Damn it!" she shrieked, Semblance-dashing away from Yang and right into the teeth of the Grimm. Only Weiss could keep up with her; when they reached the monsters, Ruby lopped one's head clean off while the heiress struck the rest with flying shards of Glyph-propelled ice.

Meanwhile, Blake and Yang found their hands full with another arriving flock of Griffons. Both girls put themselves between the beasts and a trapped clump of festival goers. "Move them back!" she yelled to the blonde. "I'll drop a fire shadow!"

"Yeah!" Yang confirmed, waving furiously at the people to get her point across. "Back up! We can't protect you otherwise!" She glanced over as Blake flashed past, then winced slightly as her explosive clone went off. "See? We got this. Just do what we say, okay?" More Grimm appeared to her right. "Blake! More! Let's go!"

While a scattered Team RWBY tried their best to defend every soul in sight, Jaune utilized a different tactic with JNPR. He and Pyrrha, with shields brandished, set themselves up between one specific crowd of people and the expanding fight. "No Grimm get past this line!" he yelled to Pyrrha. "Nora! Ren! Keep 'em away!"

"You got it!" She twirled Magnhild into its grenade launcher form and started shooting.

Jaune's attention went to his panicked charges. "I need someone to yell at everyone else to come to us. Any volunteers?" A few people in front nodded at his request. "Thanks. We're gonna move you guys up against that doorway over there so the soldiers can watch our butts. Ready?" He looked to Pyrrha again. "Ready?"

Were her focus not needed elsewhere, the redhead would have been immensely proud of her leader. She managed an intense smile. "They won't get past us."

As JNPR enacted their plan, however, the clouds passed by and revealed a sky full of Nevermores and Griffons, throwing the crowd into a renewed panic that drew the monsters' attention. Creatures began to invade from all sides, overwhelming Team RWBY and forcing them to retreat. Even the arrival of Coco Adel and her minigun could only stem the tide briefly; by the time the rest of Team CFVY arrived, the black hordes were driving people back into the central arena. "They're never gonna get off of this thing if we don't do something!" Nora said while stuffing more grenades into her weapon. "We need a new plan!"

"What plan?!" Yang shouted back. "The more people freak out, the more Grimm show up!" She and her sister found themselves staring down a dozen young Griffons, hungry for fresh meat and charging toward the arena opening. Behind and above them, several juvenile Nevermores pecked and clawed at the Colosseum's shielding. As the blonde watched, a much larger example dived at the energy field, bouncing off with a tremendous shrieking caw. "Oh, man, this blows. Airships aren't even gonna be able to get here unless-" The Griffons Yang had just raised her fists to fight abruptly ceased to exist; they shattered into tumbling balls of unrecognizable viscera before fading quickly away.

"Uh… what just happened?" Ruby asked, head darting around. She looked up just in time to see the same fate befall a few of the Nevermores above. Flowing threads of something glittered in the sunlight, dancing around like a spider's web in the breeze. The more she looked, however, the more she realized they were moving _against_ the air. Even more unsettling, they seemed to be everywhere, weaving in and out of every opening. She jumped with fright when one of the shining threads pricked her on the arm before floating away. "What the heck are these?!"

"They're gray," Blake noted, more easily able to see them with her acute eyesight.

"Yeah, and shiny," Velvet added with a curious poke at one. She also jumped when it stung her. "Ouch!"

"Whatever these are, they've bought us some time."

Everyone turned to regard General Ironwood, striding forth with soldiers flanking him on both sides. Among their number was Indigo and Schwarze, both wielding assault rifles. "I think this is Opher's Aura," Indigo stated, pointing at the gossamer construction that danced overhead. "He must still be around here somewhere."

"Excuse me, he's got enough Aura to do all of this?!" Weiss asked, sweeping her free hand around exasperatedly. "That is quite _literally_ impossible."

"I wouldn't complain if I were you. You know what they say about gift horses," Coco said with a tired smirk. "I think we need to punch through to one of the airship docks." She doffed her beret and nodded at the nervous civilians. "Get these folks home in time for dinner and all."

"My troops are in the process of securing a route now." Ironwood scanned the teenagers until his eyes landed on Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, you're needed at Beacon Academy."

"Why?" she asked, only realizing the answer after another moment. "Oh. I… I see." Ren and Nora frowned at her.

"Uh, what's going on?" Yang interjected. "Needed with what? Are there Grimm on campus too?"

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it." Jaune stepped up to stand beside the redhead, staring intensely at the slightly-taller General. "We're going with her."

Ironwood nodded once. "I understand. Let's go." He turned to Teams RWBY and CFVY next, as well as the assorted gaggle of students from academies that had found their way to the arena during the chaos. "No one will fault you for leaving with the rest. You've done your schools proud."

"We'll go when everyone else gets out of here," Velvet stated, causing everyone to look her way. Despite her best efforts, she shrank with the attention. She glanced up at the explosive death of another Nevermore and swallowed hard. "Even if it means being stuck up here with Opher."

"Wait a second!" Nora exclaimed. "Why is he so tweaked in the first place?! What did you talk about after we left?"

Ironwood straightened his collar and frowned. "Riese's been hiding something he shouldn't have been. That's all you need to know right now." He motioned for Pyrrha and moved to part the crowd. "Miss Nikos. It's time."

"Yes." The redhead emitted a sigh and fell in with him. "I guess it is."

"We'll see you guys at Beacon!" Ruby said with a wave. "Assuming Opher or the Grimm don't kill us first!" An awkward laugh followed her words. Indigo arrived at her side as Team JNPR departed it. "Did you see him anywhere?"

Her ochre eyes glittered with seriousness. "Nah. I'm gonna go look for him now."

"Wait, by yourself?" an unhappy Schwarze asked. "Don't be stupid. I'm coming with you."

"Uh, excuse me?" Blake interjected with a hand slightly raised. "I think you two should get out of here while you still can."

"Forget it." Indigo rested the rifle on her shoulder and started walking. "I might be the only person that can talk him out of whatever the fuck is going on. I can't leave without trying." With a wave, she and Schwarze departed the group completely and headed down toward the arena.

"I suppose she's got a point." Weiss turned back to her teammates, a strange smile plastered across her face. "Who's up for fighting our way to an airship and trying to get to Beacon?"

"Me!" Ruby shouted, though her enthusiasm faded quickly. She looked up as Yang put a hand on her shoulder. "Man, I hope everyone is okay down there."

"Let's go see." Coco led them all back toward the open decks as arriving Grimm continued to be shredded by the ghostly gray threads of Opher's essence. Whenever one of them touched someone, an invariable yelp of surprise escaped their lips. "Damn! What the hell is he doing with these things?!" Coco complained after getting hit three times in a row.

Velvet winced painfully as one of the threads pricked her ears. "At least he isn't treating us like the Grimm."

They found a mostly-clear sky waiting for them when they arrived, though a cluster of shuttles snaked their way up in a spiral from Beacon to reach the people trapped on Amity's decks. Vale, off to their right, seemed fine; at this height it was impossible to tell how its citizens were reacting to events, nor could anyone detect any Grimm around its walls, but at least nothing seemed to be on fire. One or two Nevermores hovered out of the apparent range of Opher's might, but found themselves being shot at by Atlesian military airships instead. "Hey, this ain't too bad," Yang noted with a grin. Once again, the students put themselves on the perimeter of the crowd as they queued up to leave. The first shuttle came in two minutes later, causing a crush as people tried to get on first.

Their increased agitation attracted more Grimm. Whenever a Griffon or Nevermore got close to the platforms, however, it was enveloped in ashen threads and rended to oblivion. "It's like I'm watchin' fucking magic," Coco remarked as she watched over the rims of her sunglasses. "How in the hell is he doing this?"

"Opher's different," a nervous Ruby replied. "He, um, doesn't use Aura like we do, I guess."

Coco couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ruby wouldn't meet her gaze. "It's a long story."

Caught up in the relative calm, Weiss found herself eyeballing the conga line of shuttles coming to the rescue. One of them didn't seem to be following the same flight pattern as the rest; she watched it drift over one of the Atlesian airships, apparently trying to get away from a pursuing Nevermore. Once the Grimm had been blown to pieces, the shuttle quickly descended toward Beacon. At this point the heiress noticed a large cluster of Bullheads flying toward the campus. "What are those doing?"

"Huh?" Yang slid over to look down as well. "Oh. I dunno. Maybe they're showing up to take people back to Vale?"

"Hmm." Weiss had to discard the thought as two Griffons finally broke through and charged the crowd. "Well, in that case, let's make sure there are people for them to carry!" she said, brandishing Myrtenaster for the attack.

Yang rolled her eyes with a smile. "God, you're corny." Before she could join the heiress in her strikes, however, someone engaged and hacked through the Grimm from behind. "Aww, man, we were gonna-" Her complaint stopped short when she realized their identity. "Hey! Uncle Qrow!"

"Yang! Ruby! Where you been hiding?" he asked through a smile, twirling his weapon from scythe form to broadsword as he walked closer. "I was lookin' for you."

"Oh, you know, just slaying Grimm, saving people, the usual Hunter stuff," Ruby answered with a strained smile. "Hey, have you seen Opher? His boss went looking for him. We're kinda worried he might, you know…"

Qrow's face grew dark. "Afraid I haven't. I'm pretty keen to talk to him myself, to be honest. What's his deal all of a sudden?"

"Oh, who fucking knows." Yang stared off, arms folded and frowning. Her eyes suddenly registered strange activity around Beacon's campus far below; black dots, like ants of varying sizes, seemed to be converging on the campus. "Hey, are those Grimm?" she wondered out loud while walking toward the edge.

Coco moved over to look herself. "Ah, hell, I think you're right. Those big ones look like Goliaths."

"Hold on… aren't Jaune and..." A panicking Ruby hopped in place after she too came over to see the fuss. "They're flying _into_ that?! We gotta get off of this thing and get down there!"

* * *

Indigo scuttled forward with her rifle raised, slicing the corner of the corridor into sections until Schwarze came around to protect her rear. Only then did the swarthy woman proceed down the hall. Their sojourn had taken them deep into the Colosseum and back up again with no Opher to show for it. A few panicked people ran by them with a young Beowolf in pursuit; one trigger pull from each woman put the beast down quickly. "Just like old times!" a too-happy Schwarze chirped.

"Yeah, if we find an Army officer that won't take no for an answer, then our trip down memory lane is complete." Indigo noticed one or two silvery threads waving near the ceiling. "Do we keep following these things or what? There's like, no rhyme or reason to 'em."

"Haven't you noticed there's less and less of them?" Schwarze paused to sweep her weapon around before adding, "Are we going the wrong way?"

"Dude, I don't know _which_ way is wrong." They passed by another of the large openings that led to the central arena, where Indigo noticed a multitude of the gossamer strings were heading. "What the fuck. Why are they all going that way? He ain't there. We looked."

"Unless he's moving around too…" Schwarze cleared the doorway as Indigo walked past before moving to catch up with her friend. "I didn't know your boy toy had such a temper. Or that he was a wizard, 'cause… this is kinda crazy."

"Yeah, well. Something set him off. I want to know what." A Creep came sliding across the floor around the corner ahead. Indigo put three bullets through its skull with another squeeze of the trigger. "I wish the Nevermores would stop carrying these little bastards up here."

"I don't know what you're expecting. They sense blood. Or, well, panic." Schwarze raised her weapon again to put down another Creep as it slithered into view. Before she could, however, the ghostly yarn swooped down and tore it to ragged shreds. "Whoa!"

"She told me it had been the first herd of deer anyone had seen in the valley in thirty years. There were a lot of boys named Opher that summer. I'm the only one of them left."

That was definitely his voice echoing off the metallic walls, but neither woman could place its exact location as they swept their rifles around. "What's he talking about?" Schwarze muttered to her friend.

"Not a clue. I'm gonna do something stupid." Indigo sucked in a breath and hollered, "Hey! New guy! We're over here!"

What few gray threads remained in the hallway abruptly sucked themselves out of sight. A few tense seconds later, Opher himself stepped into view with his head down and hands shoved into his pockets. Structures of Aura sprouted from his back like the branches of a tree, thinning out into the silvery, thread-like constructions after a few yards of travel. Thanks to his hat, neither woman could see his face. "Sorry. I'm talking to myself again," he apologized tonelessly. "It happens."

Schwarze wouldn't lower her weapon, but Indigo did, stepping in front of the raven-haired woman as she walked closer to Opher. "Hey, uh, what's going on here?"

Opher continued to hide his face from her. "You know what they say about old people not giving a damn about appearances?"

Indigo's face went blank as she tried to gather what this statement had to do with anything. "Uh…"

"Eh, don't worry about it." He finally looked up; his muted green eyes were glassy and distant. "The whole truth, then. Indigo, basically everything you know about me is a lie. The latest in a long line of cover stories to hide the fact that I've been alive for eight thousand years." Opher paused to wave at the solid Aura attached to his back. "And this? Well, this is what your Aura looks like after that much time."

A shocked Schwarze finally stopped aiming her rifle at him, but Indigo dropped her gun entirely and stumbled back. "You're… _what_?" she blurted out after a moment.

"I'm immortal. Functionally." Opher shed his hat and looked back toward faint, approaching noises. A juvenile Nevermore had somehow breached his defenses and fluttered toward them; without any conscious urging, his Aura enveloped the beast and turned it into thin, ebony ribbons. "The cycle is beginning again," he mumbled to himself. His attention went to Indigo a moment later. "You two go find Team RWBY or Team JNPR and make them help you get back to Vale."

"Why? What cycle? I-" Overwhelmed by the circumstances, Indigo's brain decided to focus on the most mundane thing it could. "I dunno where Ruby and her team went, but Jaune's guys went back to Beacon. Ironwood made Pyrrha go and they wouldn't let her go alone."

He instantly knew why. "I see. They're going to turn her into the Fall Maiden to fight the Grimm. Or Cinder. Or maybe _me_ ," he remarked while donning his hat again.

"Wait, Maiden? Like, like the fairy tale?" Schwarze asked. "And why would Beacon wanna fight you?"

"Oh, trust me, they have very good reason to. I've been taking out Maidens for nearly as long as Maidens have walked Remnant."

Indigo cocked a thin, bluish brow. "Why?"

"Because when you get as old as I have, the one thing you want most is to stop living. That's the cycle I'm talking about. I fight a Maiden, they fail to kill me, I wait and fight the next. Been doing it for a while… until they started hiding them." Opher cracked his knuckles with anticipation. "It's been a few hundred years. Maybe the old hags are finally up to snuff."

"Then why the hell would you cause a panic like this?" Indigo exploded, waving her arms around erratically. "If you're just after one person, then-"

Opher silenced her with an upraised hand. "Causing a ruckus was not my intention. Ironwood cornered me. I reacted badly. Someone saw me. News travels fast." With a smile, he pointed to the Scroll in his pocket. "Did someone really call me the harbinger of the apocalypse on-"

Schwarze cut him off. "This isn't very funny. There are Grimm everywhere because of you."

"I know. The only reason I'm keeping them away is because you're still here." Opher pointed at Indigo. "I'm leaving as soon as she does."

"And you'd just let everyone else die?!" Indigo growled.

All the life departed Opher's eyes again. "They're going to die anyway. Exactly when is up to them, I guess."

"No it isn't, you fucking moron! Look at yourself! It's entirely up to _you_!"

It had been a long time since anyone addressed Opher quite as viciously as Indigo just did; he blinked at her a few times, unable to formulate a quick response. They stared at each other in silence while Indigo caught her breath. "You said it yourself," he finally stated, "I don't want that kind of responsibility."

"Yeah, well, you've got it now, don't you?" Indigo eyeballed him as he looked away. "And there's a big mess to clean up out there."

Not only did the woman look like his mother, but she was beginning to sound like his father too. It proved a little too much for Opher to take. "Hopefully, you'll need to find some other janitor." He started walking toward them to leave. "Now, get out of here." The Aura trailing out behind him began to shrink and retract into his skin. "Last chance."

"Where are you going?" Indigo snapped at him as he walked by.

"To Beacon." He adjusted his hat as Aura sprouted again from his shoulders, this time in wing-like structures. "I'm pretty sure I've got a date with Ozpin."

Indigo wasn't done with him. She fell in close behind Opher and kept ranting. "And what about the rest of us, huh? The ones who can't fly? You just gonna leave us up here?"

Her displeasure only made Opher roll his eyes. "There are airships outside to evacuate the Colosseum. Why do you think I've been keeping the Grimm away?"

"Fine. But I'm not going to Vale. I'm going with you to Beacon."

"Why?!" a horrified Schwarze exclaimed. "Can't we just go home? What if the pub's getting looted? I can't afford to replace all that scotch!"

Indigo turned to snap at her next. "That's the least of our problems!"

With arms crossed, Schwarze snapped right back, "You better not start whining when there's no alcohol for you on Friday, then."

"Enough!" Opher bellowed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If you're coming with me, then come on."

* * *

Beowolves shattered in the face of Pyrrha's furious charge, bending and breaking across her shield as she and Jaune tried to clear a path to Beacon Tower. Nora, slinging grenades in every direction, was right behind them; Ren had taken to the shadows, his hit-and-run attacks becoming greenish smears in the corners of the redhead's eyes. Absolute chaos had taken hold on the festival grounds, but that was a problem for Ironwood and his troops. Team JNPR had one goal, and one goal alone: get Pyrrha safely to the tower.

"Where are they all coming from?!" Pyrrha finally screamed with frustration. A Bullhead soared at treetop level above them, tilted to one side as it fell to the ground. Creeps dropped out of its open cargo doors before it crashed. As they watched, two more Grimm-laden aircraft plummeted from the cloudy sky. "I _think_ we might be under attack."

"Can't imagine why you'd say that," Nora replied. A charging Boarbatusk received a grenade to the face, buying her enough time to reload. "Let's get out of here while we still can!"

"Tower!" Jaune commanded, pointing his sword ahead. "Keep moving forward!"

Every student present on the campus appeared to be engaged in a fight around them. Among the panic, Glynda led a team of twelve in Atlas uniforms against a Death Stalker near the library. Nora launched a few grenades at the beast, but that was all the help JNPR could give as they pushed ahead. A gaggle of Shade Academy students drove past them in the other direction with various guns blazing, trying to force an equal-sized horde of young Griffons from piercing a defensive line around the dining hall. They were backed up by a pale woman with pastel orange hair who wielded two battleaxes on chains. "Hey, Professor Peach!" Nora called. "Is our homework still due next Monday?"

"You _might_ get an extension," she replied through a wry smile. "Ozpin told the faculty about your assignment. Go on, we've cleared a path. Hurry before it closes again."

"Thanks," Jaune waved his team onward. "Almost there!"

The going got easier as the Grimm and those fighting them thinned out, so much so that by the time they reached the central courtyard, only a few monsters and Hunters-to-be roamed the area. They had a straight shot to the base of the structure, but the lull only made Jaune and his team more nervous than before. Checking and rechecking the area slowed their progress to a crawl. "Where did everybody go?" Nora asked the air.

"I'm sure everything's-" Distant explosions cut Jaune off. "-cool. Oh boy." Before he could add anything else, a large shadow swept over the courtyard. "What was-"

"Nevermore!" Pyrrha yelled, pointing her spear up. Not just one, either; two of the creatures circled lazily around the top of Beacon Tower. Both saw a chance for easy prey in Team JNPR and dove for the attack, one after the other. Before the first could extend its claws fully and strike, it was consumed by a roaring pillar of fire that came from behind them and driven back. The redhead instantly knew whose fault it had to be. "Opher?" she said, turning to look.

It wasn't him she saw sauntering closer. Cinder Fall, flanked by Emerald and Mercury, approached with a dying tongue of flame in her right hand. "You looked like you could use a hand," she remarked smoothly. "What are you doing out here by yourselves?"

"Trying to get to the tower," Jaune explained. He crouched in readiness as the second Nevermore swooped down. "Here comes the other one!"

Emerald handled the problem with almost dismissive grace, flinging one of her revolvers so its chain wrapped around the beast's neck as it tried to peck at Pyrrha. She yanked herself onto its head and used her other gun to put a bullet right through its eye. The Nevermore crumpled to the ground as she hopped off. "You'd better get going, then," she said with a fake, friendly smile.

An impressed Pyrrha eyed her for a moment. "Thank you. I hope I'll be able-" A knot in her stomach prevented the redhead from finishing her sentence. "Never mind. Good luck," she eventually concluded, scaling the tower steps with her team.

Emerald returned to her mistress as Team JNPR departed. "It's really her?"

"Yes, it is." Cinder checked her Scroll again, then waited a few seconds before leading her cronies up the steps as well. The gnawing of the Fall Maiden's power, heightened by anticipation, drew a smile on her face. "I hope Amber is feeling better than the last time we parted company."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be real glad to see us." Mercury continued scanning the area as they walked. A gray glimmer in the sky caught his attention; upon further scrutiny, it proved to be a humanoid shape. "What the hell is that?" As he examined the shape further, it clarified into a winged being carrying two passengers. "Yo, Emmy, do you see this?"

Cinder's eyes became slits. She refused to look, to allow anything to ruin her moment; in the back of her mind, she already knew what was coming. "It doesn't matter. We've already won."

"Uh, well," Emerald began, now also gazing skyward at what she realized was the approaching Opher Riese, "maybe you ought to tell _him_ that."


	27. Chapter 27

Indigo and Schwarze were released a bit earlier from Opher's grasp than they expected; both were forced to roll into their landings while he alighted feet first in the courtyard. "Excuse me?" Indigo growled at him. "What did I say about dropping-"

Opher waved her into silence. "Oh, calm down." His focus was on the tower entrance. He'd spotted Emerald's pastel green mop from a long distance away, seen the Nevermores and the pillar of flame, and knew Cinder had just entered the structure. Now he wanted to know why.

The distant sounds of battle continued to fill the air, though these noises seemed to be concentrated on their right, toward the festival grounds. Opher seemed not to notice them, or perhaps he didn't care; he walked up the tower steps in a trance-like state. "Um, the fight is that way?" Schwarze said to him. She got no answer. "Never mind me, I guess, whatever." Grumbling, she snatched up her rifle and walked over to Indigo. "Now what?"

It was apparent that she'd already made her mind up to follow Opher. "What do you think?"

Schwarze rolled her azure eyes, but fell in with her best friend. "You _don't_ want to know what I think at this point, sweetie."

"Look, he might be our only ticket out of here alive. We're stuck with him."

"Aw, come on. We're soldiers! We can handle-" Schwarze hesitated as another Grimm-laden Bullhead crashed into the opposite side of the tower. The structure shook with the impact. A few seconds later, its cargo of Beowolves began to spread out and hunt for victims. "Maybe you have a point," she admitted, rushing her friend into the lobby.

Here they found a strange sight: Mercury and Emerald frantically banging on the closed elevator doors. Neither Cinder, nor Team JNPR, were anywhere to be seen. "Ma'am!" the thief called anxiously. "Ma'am! Wait for us!"

"That bitch is long gone," Mercury complained, punctuating his statement with a mighty kick into the metal doors. "She was just using-" Words failed him as he saw their new problem: a nearby Opher, who regarded them with something approaching amusement. "Well, our day really went to hell in a hurry, didn't it?"

"What are you talking-" Emerald began while turning to look, "-son of a bitch." Indigo's arrival only deepened her unhappiness. "Uh..."

"Wait a second," Indigo said after hearing Emerald speak, "you're the chick that tried to break into my apartment a few weeks back!" Up her rifle went, aimed at the thief's head. "I _knew_ you looked familiar. Keep your hands where I can see them."

Emerald managed a little smirk. "All right, which hands?"

To Indigo's surprised eyes, the entire room began to sprout appendages as Emerald leveraged her Semblance. She shrieked and stumbled backwards, tossing her rifle in the process. Schwarze aimed her own gun at the two criminals. "Whatever you're doing, stop it! Stop it right now!" She reacted much as Indigo did when Emerald hit her with the same mirage. "Hey! What the heck?!"

Bringing two people under her spell placed a visible strain on the thief, however. Within a few seconds, Opher made the connection between her misery and Indigo and Schwarze's panic. He flung a hailstone at Emerald's head to interrupt her concentration; she had to drop the illusion to react and get out of the way. Sure enough, the two women behind him appeared to have their bearings again. "Interesting," he noted as Emerald regained her footing. Suddenly, she appeared to be concentrating right at him.

The lack of effect threw Emerald into full-blown panic. "Why the fuck won't it work?!" she hissed, sweat beading all over her forehead. As the seconds passed, she slowly put more distance between herself and the lanky man.

"Why won't what work?" Opher nonchalantly blocked an incoming kick from Mercury with his tattooed forearm before adding, to himself, "What is she doing?"

The next voice from Opher's lips was not his own. "You may fool his eyes, but you will not fool mine," his essence whispered, its flat tone echoing all over the lobby.

Indigo tilted her head with uncertainty. "What-who said that?"

The two criminals were equally unnerved, but this passed quickly in light of their circumstances. "Wow, you know, I don't even care anymore," Mercury grumbled. "Emmy, let's get outta here before the White Fang show up."

The idea horrified her. "And ditch Cinder? She'll kill us! We're supposed to be filming this stuff anyway, if we don't-"

"Oh, screw her orders," he countered with another angry kick at the elevator doors. "It's over, Emerald. She got what she wanted. We're not necessary anymore. She ditched _us_."

This was the second time Indigo had heard of Cinder; she wondered why Opher had mentioned it at the Colosseum as one of Beacon's possible adversaries. "Excuse me, who the hell is Cinder and why do _you_ know her name?" she demanded, glaring at the lanky man.

"Cinder is their leader," he explained calmly, able to detect Indigo's increasing anger even though he still had his eyes on Emerald and Mercury. "We've met a few times."

"Hold on!" Schwarze chirped. "If Indy knows this girl," she said, point at Emerald, "and you know her boss, then-"

"Can it," Indigo cut her off wearily. She'd heard more than enough. "Man, you turned out to be a real son of a bitch." On weak strides, she took her leave with a concerned Schwarze close behind her. Opher didn't bother to look back at her departure; as far as he was concerned this was the cleanest possible break he could have gotten.

Not that it didn't sting regardless. Mercury noticed the unhappy glimmer in his eyes and tried to defuse another confrontation. "Hey, uh, truce?" he asked. "I don't really feel like fighting you right now. What's the point? We got hung out to dry."

Emerald grew more upset with every passing second. "She didn't hang us out to dry. We just have to wait on her to come back," she insisted, clinging tightly to her fading hope.

"Where did she go?" Opher asked at length.

"Down," Mercury pointed to the elevator. He ignored Emerald's shocked gasp and added, "Guess this place has a basement. That must be where they're hiding you-know-who."

"I see." Opher approached the elevator doors. While Mercury was more than happy to get out of his way, a trembling Emerald put herself between him and his goal with her revolvers drawn. "There's a fine line between loyalty and stupidity," he told her idly.

"I won't be a starving little girl anymore," she replied, extending the blades on her weapons.

Opher's stare went from dismissive to completely empty. "I reckon that's completely up to you now, isn't it?" With a sweep of his arm, he unleashed a torrent of fire that forced Emerald to the side and against the far wall of the lobby. He then sprouted a blade of Aura from his left hand and plunged it into the doors. A shower of sparks erupted as he sawed through the metal. In a few seconds more, the obstruction crumpled and tore; Opher sank ghostly gray hooks into the doors and pulled them out into the lobby. He then took a look into the abyssal darkness of the elevator shaft. "It's been too long," he mumbled. One more glance went toward Emerald, who'd skittered over to Mercury but seemed unwilling to challenge Opher again. "Let's hope this is the last time you ever bother me."

With those words, he stepped off into the shaft and plummeted like a stone. His Aura worked to slow the fall, shooting out in barbed ropes that tore sparking gouges in the walls with their friction. By the time Opher's shoes gently touched the ceiling of the elevator car at the bottom, a dozen of these structures had formed to control his descent. They retracted into his flesh, their purpose served, as he opened the access door and quietly dropped into the car. Opher paused to see if he could hear anything beyond, but only silence reached his ears. Anyone present must have heard his shrieking descent; they'd be ready for him. But he was ready for them too. He pushed a button to open the doors with a smile.

What he found was Beacon's darkened vault, a huge windowless room braced by square columns. At the opposite end stood a towering machine with two pod-like structures. The left was occupied by a woman with an arrow in her chest, apparently dead. The right was empty and missing its top; he noticed it lying on the floor nearby. Just in front of this device stood Jaune, Ren, and Nora, all with their weapons brandished. Next nearest stood Professor Ozpin, as ready to fight as the team behind him. And closest of all, her back to Opher, floated Cinder Fall. A glowing orb of golden light circled her rapidly, providing most of the illumination. An orange glow wafted from her eyes. As Opher examined the scene further, he noticed Pyrrha on the floor behind her teammates.

It was the headmaster's look that alerted Cinder to a new presence. "Another interruption?" she mused aloud, turning around. When she registered Opher's identity, however, the Maiden's might lurched with revulsion in her chest. " _You_ ," she hissed venomously with a voice no longer her own. Cinder's expression changed from smug to confused as she fought for control of her throat.

The Fall Maiden's power wouldn't let her seize it. "I'm disappointed to see you're still a blight on this planet, vile creature."

"I'm disappointed to see you're still as much of a bitch as ever after all these years." Opher crossed his arms and smirked up at her. "Won't you come down and say hello?" This was all the lanky man could get out before Cinder lunged forth and slugged him, full-strength, with a fist made of lava. Her blow drove him shoulder-deep into the stone ceiling above, where he ended up stuck fast.

"I am going to enjoy this!" Cinder and the Fall Maiden snapped, finally agreeing on something to say. She eyed his limp body hungrily. "I know you're not dead. Stop pretend-"

Ozpin seized the chance and unloaded on Cinder, dashing forward so fast he became a blur to Team JNPR's amazed eyes. He reached his target in a second or two and thrashed her repeatedly with his cane. Even after turning her focus to his attack, Cinder found herself too slow to block his strikes; every single one found its mark until she was forced to withdraw and collect herself. "What do you think you're doing?" the Fall Maiden shrieked through Cinder's lips. "Do you not see our shared problem?"

"Forgive me, my Lady," Ozpin replied politely, "But at this moment, _you_ are the problem."

They engaged each other again, going airborne and launching strikes and counterstrikes at light speed that drew explosive, almost metallic screeches as their souls bounced off of each other. The contact between their Auras lit up the darkened vault like the afternoon sun. Cinder, growing more accustomed to the Maiden's power with every passing moment, began injecting Dust into her attacks. Alternating walls of ice and lava flew at Ozpin with every flick of her wrist. They shattered against his Aura shield, proving barely able to slow his inexorable advance. When he got within cane's reach, another torrent of furious strikes followed. This time, Cinder was able to deflect a few with her forearms.

Team JNPR stood in awe near the Aura transfer device and watched their struggle. "I'm thinking we might want to leave? This is a little crazy, even for me," Nora told her leader.

"Probably." He looked back at Pyrrha, who was still on her knees. "Hey, uh, no rush, but we should probably get outta here."

The redhead glanced, not at Jaune, but at Ozpin's discarded Scroll on the stone floor near her feet. "But…" Concentrated effort was required for her to haul herself upright. "I can't believe this."

"Me neither, but we can think about the family reunion another time." Jaune searched the ceiling above and found the hole where Cinder had driven him into the rock, but Opher was suddenly missing. "Hey, where did he go?"

"He's gotta be around here some-" Nora, turning around as she searched, suddenly found Opher standing right next to her. She shrieked with fright and swung Magnhild at his head; while the hammer's face impacted his skull with a thunderous crack, the lanky man didn't even flinch. His eyes remained on Ozpin and Cinder's whirling, mid-air battle. "Don't sneak up on us like that!" she chided him at length. A few seconds passed before she actually withdrew Magnhild. "Also, sorry. I guess."

Opher turned to look at Pyrrha, who regarded him with open-mouthed, helpless silence. He too noticed the Scroll on the ground. Her face was on its screen. "What's that about?" he asked. When she and her team failed to answer, a ghostly hand reached out from his torso and snatched the device off of the stone. "Fine. I'll answer my own question."

As he read, Ozpin and Cinder found themselves ground down into a loud, but mostly unmoving stalemate. The headmaster's machine-gun strikes were no longer finding their targets; with Team JNPR still present, he couldn't unleash his full strength on her without fear of bringing the vault down on their heads. Cinder's fortunes seemed to be heading the other way. She unleashed torrents of Dust-backed attacks like waves against Ozpin, but his bubble shield continued to hold. "Yield, you prideful fool!" she demanded, beating on his Aura with fists of solid ice. "Salem will rule this planet, and I will become her right hand!"

"Over my dead body," the headmaster replied cooly.

"As you wish." Before Cinder could start backing up her words, however, a vicious pricking robbed her of her focus. "What-" She noticed Ozpin reacting to something as well, but still thought it was one of his tricks. "I don't know what you're up to, but-" Another stampede of invisible needles trampled over her exposed skin, robbing her of the rest of her sentence.

Ozpin grimaced the sensation away and straightened up for another attack. "If I were the one hitting you, you'd know it." His eyes darted about as the orange light of Cinder's power was outshone by a gray glare that came from behind.

"Him!" Cinder managed to blurt out just as a winged Opher arced high in the air over them, hanging for an instant before his breakneck descent began. Blinding flames of ashen gray trailed behind his form as he dropped. Cinder threw up a wall of ice, crackling with lightning, to shield herself from the attack. Opher crashed through her barrier with a punch backed by all of his Aura; the impact was so potent that it blew Ozpin backward while shattering the glass in the transfer pod lids, as well as every lamp in the room. Even the black granite walls shuddered.

For all that fury, however, Opher hadn't actually made contact with Cinder at all. "You missed," she snarled at him, her right hand snapping up. "I won't."

A howling eruption of fire sprang from her palm, completely enveloping him. Backed by a fraction of the Maiden's might, the conflagration shifted from red to orange, then to yellow. Her hatred brought a bluish tint to the flames before turning them white-hot. The polished stone beneath her feet began to warp and soften until it glowed dully. A solid minute passed before she ceased the flow and smirked at the massive scorch mark it had left. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness; she first saw Ozpin near the transfer device, shielding Team JNPR with a bubble of shining green Aura. She smirked a bit at the sight.

Her smile ran away as the smoke continued to clear. Opher was still standing exactly where he was when Cinder unleashed her attack; like Ozpin, he too was surrounded by a bubble of Aura. This one was so translucent, only the edges were truly visible. He shed his hat as smoke billowed off of the shield and sighed. "She doesn't even know how to use it," he said to himself. "Half the power has been in her hands and it's still beyond her.."

" _Excuse_ me?" Cinder hissed, her blood beginning to boil in a nearly literal sense. "I know exactly what I am doing, you bastard."

"No, wait," Opher said, again to himself. When he looked up at her, his next words were addressed to the Fall Maiden. "You're holding back, aren't you? Because she stole you."

Cinder queried herself, desperate to find any gaps in the Maiden's might. While the gnawing of the incomplete power was gone, emptiness still remained in her heart. Whether it was the Fall Maiden holding out on her, or Opher's lingering misery, she couldn't say. Whichever it might have been, she despised the sensation. "Let me show you just how in control I really am!" she screamed, her eyes afire as she floated off the floor.

Before she could even start to wind up for another attack, however, Opher dismissed his shield and launched himself at her on a column of blue flames. He wrapped both hands around her throat as they dropped to the floor; more ghostly appendages helped him secure her arms out to her side, and hold her ankles still. "You aren't strong enough," he mumbled. "Not for my purposes."

"I am one of the strongest people on Remnant!" Cinder roared back, fire and ice spewing from her mouth as she defended herself. A phantom hand pressed itself over her lips, forcing the spray back down into her throat until she ceased it. The seared flesh shed blood as she began to cough painfully.

"Don't flatter yourself. You're surrounded by weapons that you can't even use properly." Opher waved at the floor, then the walls. "Or use at all."

Despite her restraints, Cinder managed to flick bolts of lightning from her fingertips at Opher. They couldn't pierce the gray ghost that had him in its protective embrace. "I… I am the Maiden of Fall!" she insisted again. "I am capable of anything!"

Opher's green eyes narrowed as he recalled what he'd read on Ozpin's Scroll. "You keep saying that, but…" His eyes narrowed a bit. "There's only one woman here worthy of the Maiden title." Pyrrha received a quick glance. Terror was spurring him on now; it seemed like the Maidens hadn't gotten much stronger since last he'd fought them. Cinder's inability or inexperience were ready excuses for that problem. He needed a second opinion; that would require separating the Fall Maiden from her captor first. "And I'm gonna give it to her."

"What-" Her words melted into a scream as Opher's Aura began to whip her around the vault, bouncing her off of the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Sickening crunches accompanied each impact, getting louder each time she struck the stone. At every opportunity she hurled flames or ice or lightning or even water at him, but none of them could penetrate the ashen fog.

Opher walked toward Ozpin and JNPR as his Aura continued to beat Cinder senseless and her attacks glanced off of his essence. "Oh, what, I gotta go through you?" he asked as the headmaster raised his cane. He doled out one more thunderous blow to Cinder before his Aura withdrew into his skin. After a cursory check over his shoulder at her limp form, he looked back toward the headmaster. "That's fine. I'm just gonna do what you were about to anyway."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ozpin replied calmly.

"I'm not sure how much worse it is than your own plan." Opher's expression morphed from blank to vaguely hateful. "When did you figure out that Pyrrha and Carmine were related? And when did you plan on telling me? Before or after you were done mining her body for the rest of that power?" A sneering Opher motioned to Amber's corpse. "Great job so far on that front, by the way. The one person here that knew what she was doing and you get her killed."

"I admit that things could have gone better," Ozpin sighed. He eyed Opher evenly. "Had we more time, they would have."

"Huh, well. I guess I got tired of waiting for this fucking twit behind me to finish doing her dirty work."

"When you want something done right, I suppose…" Ozpin trailed off and whispered to Jaune, "Go. Find Professor Goodwitch and get to Vale. I want Pyrrha as far away from this mess as possible."

"Got it." Jaune nodded to his team. While Ren and Nora were willing to depart right away, Pyrrha continued to linger. "Pyrrha. We-"

"This is the path I've chosen, Jaune," the redhead said evenly. "I can't run from it. One way or another, someone has to get that power away from her before she kills us all."

"Don't be so dramatic," Opher said, waving at Ozpin, then himself. "This idiot doesn't have a hope of getting past one of us, much less both of us." He looked back at sounds that indicated Cinder was getting to her feet. "Uh oh, look out. She's gonna try to tickle me to death again."

"How… how dare…" Cinder stumbled from one foot to the next in search of balance that eluded her until she dropped to her knees. "Help me!" she begged the Fall Maiden's spirit. "Don't you want to kill him?" Only silence filled her chest.

"Oh, I bet she does." By the time Opher stopped smirking at Cinder and looked away, Team JNPR had departed. "Great. Now I gotta go find her."

"You do not get to determine who is worthy of the Maiden's might," Ozpin warned him. "No one should have that sort of power. _Especially_ not you."

Issues with Cinder's lack of strength faded away for the moment. If the Maidens couldn't do it, maybe Ozpin himself could. There was only one way to find out. "If nobody should have it, how did  _you_ end up with it?" He nodded to the Aura transfer device with a hateful smile. Ozpin had no retort. "Well, if you're that keen on keeping it," Opher said, loosening up his shoulders, "then try and stop me."

When Ozpin launched his next assault, there was no holding back for either man. Their Auras exposed themselves in brilliant green and gray clouds as the headmaster's cane darted out too fast for Opher to detect. The hits were like pinpricks, annoying but not truly painful. Opher struck back with ghostly blades stuck to both hands; each time their souls made contact, a horrible shrieking noise rang out. Gray hands reached up to drag Ozpin around the room, but he manipulated his Aura into green knife-like structures to pry their grip open and escape.

This resulted in a prolonged, high-pitch screeching that rendered Cinder unable to do anything but curl up and cover her ears. The granite around her began to crack and crumble. She glanced up just in time to see Opher hurled backwards into the elevator doors, denting them inward with the impact. Ozpin was on him in less than a second, knocking him up high with a cane strike and following on a column of emerald Aura. Before he could attack again, Opher rocketed downward on another pillar of fire and sent both of them plunging through the floor and into the ground. Silence fell as a wobbly Cinder got to her feet again. She could feel distant vibrations through her shoes, the only indication a fight was still happening out of view. "I have to get out of here," she muttered, proceeding toward the elevator shaft on wobbly steps. A more severe rumbling forced her to her knees again. "What's happen-"

The floor buckled underneath Cinder as spiraling columns of white ice shot into the air. One caught her and flung her skyward; she had enough of her wits, and wind Dust, to soften her landing as the construction continued to grow, its spires jutting into the walls. One of the structures had Ozpin frozen inside, surrounded by flickering green light. It didn't hold him long. He burst free just as Opher climbed out of the center of the accumulation. "Are you getting tired, _boy_?" he yelled at the headmaster.

His Aura did seem duller than Cinder remembered at the start of their fight, but the man himself was completely untouched. She briefly weighed an alliance of convenience with Opher to take Ozpin down, then decided she'd be at too high a risk with the Fall Maiden's power unwilling to cooperate. While the ice sculpture cracked and shattered, she dashed for the elevator. Trying to melt her way through its broken doors proved too noisy a task. Gray tendrils tugged at her hands as Opher came nearer. "Hey, hey, where are you going?" he asked dryly. "I ain't done with you."

Before Cinder could properly lash out at him, Ozpin streaked through the remaining shards of ice and whipped his cane at the lanky man's head. The blow was sufficient to knock him into, then through the granite wall. Ozpin produced an orange Dust crystal, which deformed and expanded into a bubble of lava that he used to seal the hole with Opher inside. The tower above them began to groan as the damage to its foundations stacked up. "Hmm," the headmaster sighed. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to address Cinder, but she'd vanished. "Lovely." His head came around again just in time for him to see Opher explode from his molten prison.

Opher drew on what Dust he still had at the start of his charge to propel him forward; he caught the headmaster's cheek flush with his electrically-charged, fire-driven punch and sent Ozpin straight through the vault wall. The tower above issued another creak as dust rained from the ceiling. "We're going to kill this building before we kill each other. I'm impressed," the lanky man called into the hole he'd just made. The green light of Ozpin's Aura flickered almost constantly. While waiting, he noticed it was only himself left in the vault. "Where the fuck did Cinder go?! Damn it!"

Ozpin used Opher's tirade to catch a breather and plan his next move. Carmine's ancient words proved absolutely true; no matter what he threw at Opher, the lanky man just wouldn't stop coming. The headmaster was beginning to reach his limits. He looked out and saw Opher had his back turned; seizing the chance, Ozpin surrounded himself with a green bubble of Aura and dashed forward.

Opher met his charge with two blades of gray. The clash emitted a thunderous squealing sound that cracked the square columns nearby. Dust fell from the ceiling like snow as they tried to shove each other around. "You lied to me," Opher growled, his blades becoming gossamer threads that wrapped themselves around Ozpin's shield. "You said you were immortal!"

"I never claimed to be like you," the headmaster countered, raising his weapon. Parts of it shifted and moved until the cane looked more like a rifle. A laser sight popped up last. "I am merely a man who's had too many second chances." When he pulled the trigger, a fire-Dust packed round passed through his Aura and impacted Opher right between the eyes. The resulting explosion knocked the lanky man backwards; he tumbled wildly until the granite wall stopped his travel and his head snapped off the stone, leaving him stunned and unsteady. Ozpin was just about to press his advantage when the tower creaked and shuddered again.

His hesitance proved to be just enough for Opher to clear out the cobwebs and look up, his Aura flaring brightly. In contrast, Ozpin's essence seemed dimmer with every passing second. "You can't do it, can you?" a horrified Opher finally realized. "You…" Frustration overwhelmed him for an instant. He drove a fist into the granite, producing a spider web of cracks and another ominous groan from the tower above. "If you can't, and the Maidens can't, then I'm fucking stuck here forever."

"Listen to me," Ozpin said firmly, "If the tower falls, Vale will be cut off from the rest of Remnant. If the Grimm surround this city, we will have no support. Thousands may lose their lives."

Opher put his hands on his hips and looked away. "You've got Ironwood and his army. Why are you worried?"

"They can only stem the tide for so long." Despite the conversation, Ozpin still maintained his combat stance. "Think about the consequences, Mister Riese."

"Heh," Opher snorted as he walked to the destroyed elevator. Upon arriving, he laid eyes on Ozpin and smirked a bit. "Maybe the tower will keep standing if I leave quietly. I won't slam the door on my way out."

Ozpin approached and stayed Opher's feet with a hand on the shoulder. "What are your intentions?"

"I'm gonna go make myself a new Fall Maiden-" Distant rumbling made both men look up, but the sound didn't go away; it only got louder and closer with time. The ceiling began to shed huge chunks of rock. "Uh, I didn't do it," Opher said, watching as the collapse hastened and the Aura transfer machine was crushed underneath an immense pile of stone.

"Damn!" Ozpin growled. He whirled on Opher before adding, "Up the shaft! Quickly!"

With blades of flame, Opher swept aside the destroyed elevator car and blasted up toward the tower lobby on his ashen wings. A shielded Ozpin, flung upward on wind Dust, was close behind. The lanky man glanced back down at him once, but the deforming shaft ahead forced him to maneuver and look away. When he glanced back again, he found the headmaster had been swallowed up by the destruction. "Oh well," he mumbled lowly. "I'm sure he's fine."

The tower itself, meanwhile, was anything but. When Opher blasted into the lobby, parts of the half-destroyed room were tilted up at angles as the tower lurched to one side. Another shudder coursed through the structure; he placed its source as an impact above and outside, but didn't know its cause. Through the concrete dust he saw two other people in the lobby and walked toward them.

"Ma'am!" Emerald's voice rang out. "This way! Hurry!"

A huge grin split the lanky man's lips. He swooped forward and snatched up both Emerald and the unsteady Cinder by their arms and hauled them out of the tower. The thief started fighting when she saw her rescuer's face. "Let me go!" she shrieked, trying to bash him with the stock of one of her revolvers.

"Whatever," Opher said, throwing her off to the side as Cinder tried to cave his head in with her elbow. A ghostly hand stopped her attack. "Oh no you don't. I've got business with you," Opher said evenly.

"Take your business elsewhere, monster!" yelled Cinder, or the Fall Maiden, or perhaps both at once. She managed to wrench herself free and rocket skyward on a column of lava.

"Wow, really?" Opher glanced back at the smoking tower as his wings took shape. "You always were a runner, Fall."

"Wait!" Emerald yelled, dashing after him as he took flight. Even using her weapons to swing herself forward proved fruitless; she couldn't keep up and had to settle for tracking Cinder's path in the air as long as she could before being left behind.

Cinder eventually landed in the festival grounds, where even more chaos was unfolding. People scattered in every direction, running from the Grimm or White Fang troops with rifles, who herded the crowd back toward the monsters or simply killed them outright. Cinder attempted to blend in with the panicking civilians, but Opher dived at her and knocked her out of the crowd. "Where are you going?" he snapped over the screaming.

Cinder's reply took the form of a ponderous bubble of lava, which she hurled at Opher. It flowed around his Aura like a river, leaving him unharmed, but consuming a few White Fang and some Haven Academy students engaged in a firefight behind him. "Damn you," she hissed, producing another Dust crystal for a volcanic escape.

Opher answered his own question with an outstretched hand. Threads of his essence fired out and wrapped themselves around Cinder's ankles. "Nowhere, that's where." She launched herself anyway; with one mighty tug, he yanked her off of the column of lava and right into his ready fist. The hit snapped her head back viciously, leaving her limp in his grasp. After making sure Cinder wasn't faking her unconsciousness, Opher surveyed the havoc around him. "Well, then." He eyed the Grimm one at a time, impaling each on icy spikes with flicks of his tattooed arm until the tide of monsters began to wane. Most of the White Fang refused to engage him at all, choosing instead to vacate the area. This left Opher in a forest of ice, surrounded by people who weren't sure if he was friend or foe. They regarded him with quiet uncertainty.

It didn't stay calm for long. As the current safest place on the campus, the festival grounds attracted a frightened crowd who brought the Grimm with them. A few monsters burst through the ice, but were felled by students escorting the crowd. To Opher's surprise, Yang and Ruby were among them. The blonde raised her fists as soon as she saw Opher. "I think we went the wrong way, sis," she said to Ruby.

"Huh?" Ruby looked over and blinked. "Crap. What are you doing here?" she asked Opher nervously. Her eyes went to the smoking formation of lava nearby. "What's that smell-" When the realization hit, she gagged a few times. "Did you do this?!"

"Nah." Opher gave Cinder's limp body a little kick as he planned his next move. "She did."

Yang didn't buy it. "Uh huh. Come on, there's gotta be a better way to get to the airship pads."

But before she could start looking, Nora burst through the ice with a swing of Magnhild. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, as well as Blake and Weiss, were right behind her. "Looks like the coast is cleeeee… or not," Nora said, trading hammer for grenade launcher and aiming at Opher. "New plan! Turn around and run!"

"We can't!" a frantic Weiss said. "We'll be leading these people right back into the teeth of the Grimm! Literally!"

It was then that Opher realized how much leverage he currently had. He stared pointedly at Pyrrha for a moment. "I'll make you a deal," he began, "and I really doubt you're in any position to refuse me right now."

"Fuck off!" an enraged Yang yelled at him. "All of this is your damn fault to begin with!"

Opher ignored her wrath and kept his eyes on the redhead. Only one thing mattered, and he needed to be sure of it before he could make himself care about anything else. "Agree to fight me as the Fall Maiden, and I'll wipe out all of the Grimm."

"Uh, what?" Ruby looked at Jaune for clarification. "What's going on?"

"No time," he replied curtly. His partner's determined expression was worrying to say the least. "Pyrrha, you're not seriously thinking about-"

"What other choice do we have?" A vaguely hateful glimmer tainted Pyrrha's green eyes. "Is this what you were after the whole time?"

Opher only shrugged at first. "It's what I'm after now, anyway. Ozpin couldn't give it to me. Now it's your turn."

"Did you kill him?!" a horrified Jaune exclaimed.

To this, he had no ready answer; Opher knew his silence only made him look guilty, so he held it as long as necessary to ensure the outcome he wanted. Yang could no longer contain her anger and exploded in every sense of the word. "That is _it_!" she screamed, her hair catching fire. "Let's go! Right now!"

As ever, Blake provided the calmest voice in the bunch. "Yang, wait. We're running out of time," she said over the terrified throng of people huddling near them. "The Grimm are going to surround us soon."

"All the more reason to kick this asshole's face in quick," Yang replied through bared teeth.

"Pyrrha, please," Jaune begged, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do." The redhead stared Opher down. "I accept."

He put on a wry smile as a gray blade congealed in his right hand. "I knew you would. Carmine would be proud."

Before he could execute Cinder and begin the process, however, Yang stepped up to stand with Pyrrha and Jaune. "She isn't gonna fight you alone," the blonde stated. "I won't let her." Nora and Ren also moved up with the redhead.

"Dad and Uncle Qrow are gonna kill us," Ruby moaned. "We're already supposed to be outta here." Despite those lamentations, she moved to her sister's side as well. "Not like we have any choice with Penny stuck up on Amity to help the evacuation, I guess."

"All for one," Weiss muttered, following her partner over. "I'd look pretty awful if I bailed out on you all now."

"Yeah, likewise," Blake added, twirling Gambol Shroud in her fingers as she completed the phalanx behind Pyrrha. "Someone has to stop you-"

"Or beat some sense into you!" Yang cut in angrily.

Blake frowned a little. "-right. I guess it has to be us."

Opher chortled at the eight of them, but it was his Aura, exposed and draped around his shoulders, that took a humanoid form and got in the last word. "You may _try_."


	28. Chapter 28

Cinder Fall managed to find consciousness again just as the hordes of Grimm arrived. She looked up as Opher and Teams RWBY and JNPR broke their staring match to concentrate on fighting those beasts. The Hunters-in-training had little to do, however; ghostly threads of Opher's soul rocketed through the air, annihilating the Grimm mere seconds after making contact. Mesmerized by the display, Cinder gawked for a moment before collecting herself and realizing she was likely next. Once more, she tried to coerce the Fall Maiden's might into doing her bidding. A gaping silence in her heart was the reply. "Damn you," she muttered.

Pyrrha noted Cinder's stirrings before anyone else. "She's awake!" she warned her team. "Watch out!"

What few Grimm Opher didn't kill ended up shattering across Yang's fists as she exorcised some of her anger. "Who's awake?" she yelled back.

"Oh, she is?" Opher looked over his shoulder as Cinder rose to her feet and smirked a bit. "Well, well."

"Keep your distance," she growled at him.

The lanky man rolled his eyes a bit as Cinder launched herself into the sky. "I'll be right back," he said to Nora as she backed away from a charging pack of Beowolves.

"Where are you going?!" was all she could get out before having to defend herself with a swing of Magnhild. His Aura went with him, leaving the two teams suddenly overwhelmed by Grimm and people trying to escape them. "Come back, you jerk!" she shrieked shrilly.

Her yelling fell on deaf ears. Two or three powerful beats of his wings got Opher within arm's reach of the escaping Cinder. He latched onto her ankle with his tattooed hand and pulled hard as she tried to beat him with her electrified fists. "I won't let you!" she roared. "It belongs to-" The pricking of his ghostly Aura washed over her body again; she looked down and found herself wrapped in gray threads. "No…"

"If it belongs to anybody around here, it belongs to Pyrrha," Opher corrected her, using his hand and his spirit to launch her straight into the grassy ground below.

Cinder's impact was so violent that it blew Weiss and Ruby into the Griffons with which they were engaged. Only quick thinking and a bloom of ice on the heiress' part saved both from being bitten. "What was that?" she gasped.

"Dunno, kinda busy," Ruby said, whipping Crescent Rose around in graceful circles as she kept on fighting. "Yang! Death Stalker!"

The blonde acknowledged it with a nod and started moving toward her sister. "Coming! Blake, go help Ren! We'll take thi-"

A sharp shock knocked everyone present off of their feet. Even the Grimm were left staggered. As Pyrrha collected herself, she looked toward its source to see Opher straddling Cinder's waist. His right arm went into a hole in the ground where her head should have been. "What…" the redhead breathed. The orange light of the Fall Maiden's power floated out of the hole as she watched, only to be snared by Opher's Aura. "Jaune, it's time."

"What, no!" He paused to brace himself under his shield against the incoming claws of an Ursa. "Pyrrha, please!"

She ignored him and dashed headlong at Opher, arriving just in time to hear him speak unintelligible words to the Maiden's might and let it go. The glowing orb flew straight at her face; despite flinching, it slipped into her mouth and disappeared. Its absorption generated a strange, dry feeling in Pyrrha's soul. Weakness came with it. Her weapons fell from her hands as she dropped to her knees and tried to figure out how to make her limbs function again.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune yelled over the din of battle. "Pyrrha!" He couldn't turn away from the Grimm, but knew something was wrong with his partner regardless. "I'm coming! Hold on!"

The redhead stared at her gloved hands as if she'd never seen them before. All the while, the Fall Maiden's power adjusted to its new vessel. The sight of Cinder's limp form drew a weird smile on Pyrrha's face. "Good riddance." the Maiden's might said, using the redhead to speak. "Why this girl?"

"Carmine's descendant," he said evenly. " _My_ descendant. She only had one child." Opher wondered how long their souls had known the truth and spurred them on. Now he was certain why Pyrrha couldn't let the situation go, and equally sure why he'd tolerated it. They were family, even if their link was diluted by nearly a thousand years of time. "Who better to put me down after all these years? It's the unspoken duty of children to bury their parents."

"You're related?!" Weiss blurted out, the only one in the assembly able to put her shock into words due to the continued fighting. Opher and Pyrrha afforded her only brief looks before returning their attention to each other.

"Hmm. Spring never mentioned your sense of poetry." The Fall Maiden commanded Pyrrha's body to rise, drawing a gasp from her lips. Sparks of icy pain shot through her nerves as the ancient force linked itself to the redhead's considerable Aura. "You chose well," the Maiden's spirit admitted.

Opher shrugged at this with a tiny smirk. "What can I say? She _is_ my daughter, more or less."

The Fall Maiden sneered at him with Pyrrha's lips. "Some father you are."

The redhead finally seized command of her own voice. "What are you doing to me?!" she demanded of the Maiden's essence. Every joint remained immobile, no matter how hard her brain shrieked. She watched helplessly as Jaune tripped while trying to reach her. The Death Stalker Yang had noticed earlier finished its fight with the two girls, knocking the blonde aside with a claw and running Ruby over as she tried to slash at it. Jaune was the next person in its path. Panic seized her heart. "No!" Her arms flew out toward him, and with this motion a screaming rush of wind blew the Death Stalker several hundred feet into the cloudy sky. Every monster in her sight was fired upward by a power over which she swore she had no control. "I can't stop it!" she shouted, certain one of her friends or an innocent civilian would get caught in the maelstrom. "Look out!"

"Pyrrha?" Ruby watched in helpless awe as the redhead pointed toward the sun and sent more monsters hurtling into the air. "Wow."

"How am I doing this? I don't have any wind Dust!" She searched herself desperately for some sort of internal off switch, but the Fall Maiden was in complete control. In a minute more, the entire festival ground had been swept clean of the Grimm, leaving the people totally unharmed.

"Oh, she likes you," a smiling Opher remarked as falling Grimm splattered around them.

Pyrrha turned on him and felt a severe, disgusted lurching in her chest as the Fall Maiden's memories of the lanky man soaked through her heart. "I believe I have heard enough from you for one day, monster!" she snapped viciously. Her face dropped a moment later. "I… I'm sorry."

Opher clenched his fists and strode toward her. "No you're not." He laughed out loud when Jaune, Nora, and Ren put themselves between him and the newly minted Maiden. "Now you kids are just getting in the way."

His statement lit Yang's fuse again and sent her Semblance to flaring. "Fuck off!" she screamed, charging Opher down with a fiery fist cocked back. She tried to drive her knuckles through his jaw, firing Ember Celica in the process, but his Aura absorbed the blow and flashed brilliantly as it dispelled the energy. The attack succeeded in moving Opher's head about an inch to the right. Undeterred, Yang rolled her upper body as she slugged him with her other fist. Once more, her weapon fired. "You asshole!" she yelled, punching him as fast as she could ready her fists.

Ruby picked herself up off the grass and rushed over to them. "Yang, wait!" She arrived as Yang ran out of ammunition and the smoke cleared. Her fury hadn't moved the lanky man at all; he looked down at her with a grin. "Yang!" she yelled again, holstering Crescent Rose and trying to tug her sister away before she succeeded in provoking Opher's wrath.

"We've gotta stop him!" the blonde growled, yanking her arm away.

Weiss streaked overhead, lashing her blade against Opher's neck on the way. She dropped a glyph and bounced back the way she came, pinballing around him and delivering a slash each time by. Nora got into the act next; as Weiss dropped out of the picture to catch her breath, she attempted to kneecap Opher with Magnhild. His Aura caught her hammer and forced it backward, making her stumble away. Ren and Blake's bullets glanced harmlessly off of his skin until the latter darted past and dropped a fiery shadow in her wake. The explosion accomplished what Ruby couldn't, forcing Yang to retreat with her arms up protectively. Jaune was the last to attempt an offensive charge, but his blade failed to pierce Opher's stomach. "Uh, guys," he said while backpedaling, "I think we need another idea."

A frowning Pyrrha watched the affair unfold with her arms crossed. "You can't hurt him," she said as Jaune retreated. By this point, the Maiden's power had mostly fused with her own; the two were hardly distinguishable to her internal mental picture. "But I… we, can." The redhead needed only to clap her hands to cause two formations of ice to appear and squish Opher between them. A flick of her wrist turned the structures to fire so bright it outshone the sun above. It went out thanks to a hurricane formed by the mere twirling of her finger, a gale that sent Opher tumbling into the sky despite his soul's attempt to anchor him to the ground. The more Pyrrha leveraged this power, the more natural it felt. "Unbelievable," she breathed, watching the leaves swirl around her. Her eyes went to Jaune again. "Go somewhere safe. It's up to me now."

"Wait!" he yelled as she ascended into the sky. "Pyrrha!" While the panicked civilians scattered, the remainder of his team, as well as Ruby's, gathered beside him. They all watched the new Fall Maiden's flight. "Anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed?"

"Looks like they're heading toward Vale," Yang noted gravely. She looked at her sister. "What now?"

"Let me think," Ruby said as she produced her Scroll. The device had no signal; she looked back at Beacon's tower as it continued to belch flames from several locations along its height. "Uncle Qrow said he was gonna help the evacuation in the city. If they're heading that way, we gotta find him."

"Heh, we were supposed to go there anyway," Jaune sighed. He glanced at Nora and Ren with a tired smile. "How about it? Up for a road trip?"

"Yeah!" Nora assured him loudly. "Besides, Pyrrha might need our help."

Weiss, who had been watching Opher and Pyrrha's skirmish in the air, winced as one of their clashes produced a pink lightning bolt and a tremendous clap of thunder. "I somehow doubt that," she said through a frown. "But… we did make a promise." She cast an awkward glance at Cinder's body before turning to Jaune. "Besides, I doubt that woman is the last person he's going to kill if we don't do something."

* * *

Schwarze kept her rifle trained on the front door of Indigo's shop as the swarthy woman continued to load Dust crystals from the safe into her bag. "Are you almost done?" she asked as a panicked throng of people rushed by outside. "I don't know how long it's going to stay this quiet."

"Yeah, yeah," Indigo called back. She zipped up the duffel bag, hung it on her shoulder, and grabbed her assault rifle on the way out of the back room. "I'm ready." A silent moment passed as she waited on Schwarze to rise from her kneeling position. "Does your Scroll have a signal?"

"Wide-area? Nope. Hasn't for about an hour." She led the way out onto the sidewalk, sweeping her weapon around before adding, "What do you think happened?"

Indigo said nothing; she only pointed at Beacon's distant tower as it continued to burn.

"Oh." Schwarze's brow furrowed hard. "Well."

"Yeah." Indigo turned away and looked down the street. "Let's head to the post and grab all the ammo we can carry. Assuming the place hasn't been looted yet." A flock of Nevermores flying overhead caught her eye. "And let's grab some rounds for my sniper rifle too."

"Good idea. I hate birds." Schwarze blinked as two small dots rocketed through the Grimm's formation. Two of the creatures shattered before her eyes. "Whoa! What was that?"

"Dunno." Indigo tracked the indistinct shapes as they bounced off of each other, shedding fire or lightning at various points with each collision. "What the hell are those things?" To find out, she dropped her bag, grabbed her sniper rifle off her back, and looked through the scope. After a bit of adjustment, she saw Opher and Pyrrha locked in combat, beating the hell out of each other with fists that seemed to be made of gray or orange light depending on who threw them. "Look!" Indigo said, handing her weapon to Schwarze and pointing up.

"Wow. I didn't think Pyrrha could fly." Schwarze handed the rifle back and looked over as more passersby rushed past. This group was being chased by a pack of small Ursae. "Uh oh, problem."

Indigo held her fire as she noted a detachment of Atlesian soldiers on the heels of those beasts. "Not ours. Let's move." As she turned away, however, Opher came streaking down from above and crashed into the street ahead, engulfing the area in dust and blowing out most of the windows of the shops nearby. The force of his impact sent people and Grimm tumbling through the air. "Holy shit!" Indigo yelled, grabbing Schwarze's hand to make sure her friend was still there. The impact had ripped up a fire Dust line; a sparking street lamp turned it into a flame-spewing hose which threw a yellow pall over the scene. They could see him standing in the crater in that golden glow, a silhouette against the flames. "Let's get out of here," she muttered to Schwarze. Upon turning around, however, Indigo saw Pyrrha standing nearby. Her eyes shone orange. The two women darted one way, then the other, before realizing they were stuck between her and Opher.

"I am done running from you," the Fall Maiden said as Opher emerged from the destruction. " _We_ are done running."

"Uh?" Indigo finally noticed a way out and skittered toward the sidewalk with Schwarze in tow. She did not, however, leave the scene entirely. "What's going on here?" she yelled at Pyrrha.

"A fight as old as time," Opher answered for the redhead. His clothes were ruined and his hat was missing. Yet his skin bore nary a scratch despite all of the punishment he'd been taking. Glowing gray haze clung to his form as he crouched, then flung himself at Pyrrha in a renewed offensive. Eight ghostly fists struck out at her; the attack sent her bouncing off of a parked car and through the side of an apartment block, which collapsed on top of her a few seconds later.

As some of its stunned occupants clambered from the rubble, a glowing Pyrrha burst free. Cloaked in swirling leaves, she rocketed forward and bashed Opher with a simultaneous discharge of fire, ice, water, and lightning; the resulting explosion blasted him all the way down the street until he crashed through the front wall of the large Dust shop at its end. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Indigo yelled as Pyrrha started to press her advantage. When the redhead gazed at her, she pointed to the destroyed apartment building.

"What?" Pyrrha regarded the bodies scattered among the debris and realized what she'd just done. "Oh… no…" The Fall Maiden within suddenly seethed with regret. "He made us do this," she told her container. "He always brings us down to his level."

"Why is she talking to herself?" Schwarze asked between coughs.

"I… we need to calm down," Pyrrha murmured to the Maiden within. The tornado of leaves subsided a bit as she chose to walk instead of fly after Opher. "Aren't we supposed to protect these-"

Her final words were lost to the thundering rush of a wind whose source Pyrrha, Indigo, and Schwarze struggled to place. The haze and smoke parted in turbulent swirls as Opher launched himself toward the redhead once again, this time assisted by Dust crystals he'd taken from the shop that had broken his fall. He cocked back a fist and slammed her with what was effectively a block of air, it sent her flying into the low clouds above. "It has been _too_ long!" he shouted after her. Instead of taking off right away, Opher paused to consume a gravity Dust crystal in preparation for their next encounter. As it digested, however, a heavy bullet sparked off of the back of his head; his Aura, unprepared for the strike, only stopped it after it had made contact with his skull and knocked him unconscious.

Seeing that Opher was still upright, Ruby chambered another round just in case. Coco appeared from an alleyway in front of Opher just as the rest of RWBY and JNPR dropped out of the Bullhead hovering above Ruby. Yatsuhashi accompanied them; he gave her a thumbs up after landing. "Coco, hit him quick!" she yelled.

"On it!" Coco squeezed the trigger and unleashed a tremendous sound, like hundreds of burlap sheets being ripped all at once, as the bullets flew. Opher's Aura concentrated itself forward to absorb the assault.

"Okay!" Ruby looked to Weiss as she set up three glyphs to catapult Nora, Yang, and Yatsuhashi at what they assumed was the occupied Opher. "Ready?"

"Do it!" Yang insisted. Their launchpads flashed white as the heiress unleashed her power, sending all three rocketing off down the street. Coco silenced her weapon and darted to the side as they grew close. With nearly impeccable synchronicity, a hammer, a greatsword, and a fist struck Opher's right side.

His Aura saw it coming this time and tried to anchor itself to the pavement with gray barbs. Their combined swings tore Opher off of the street anyway and blasted him not only through the nearby restaurant, but through four other buildings behind it as well. Nora slid to a stop and admired their handiwork as she counted the sounds of his impacts. "I think we nailed it!" She regarded Yang's disapproving look with a smile. "Hey, one of us was gonna say it."

The blonde shook her head. "I'm not in the mood."

"Nice shot, Yatsu!" Coco said with a wave of approval. "Think we got him?"

"Not a chance," Weiss stated anxiously. She paused to catch her breath as she and Blake caught up with the rest of their team. Jaune and Ren brought up the rear. "Where did Pyrrha go?" the heiress asked after a while.

"Good question." Ruby searched the sky for her friend, but could see only smoke, clouds, and Atlesian airships engaged with the flying Grimm above. "She went over there, but I haven't seen her come down yet."

"Pyrrhaaaaaaaaa!" Jaune called, hands cupped around his mouth. "Are you okay?" The distant rumble of a collapsing building forced him to look away from the sky. "Oh, what's going on _now_?!"

Yang had an idea before anyone else. "Isn't that where Opher is?" she asked, pointing toward the rising cloud of dust. The low, bassy notes were suddenly followed by a terrific screech that forced them all to cover their ears. "What _is_ that?!" As she glanced around, every intact piece of glass in sight began to crack. "Uh… guys?" A moment later, the masonry of nearby buildings started to fracture. "Guys! We gotta get out of here!"

Her warning was lost to the awful wail; it had grown powerful enough to cause pain despite their attempts to protect their ears. They were forced to retreat into the nearest building in an effort to get away from the sound. Fortunately, Indigo's shop was unlocked; Coco led the charge to get inside and piled all of them into the glass-free back room. The space was hardly big enough to fit them all, but at least it attenuated the horrible sound. "I think we pissed him off," Coco noted gravely. "Anybody here know what's up?"

"I wish," Ruby grumbled, rubbing her temples and wincing with pain. "Whatever he's doing, it's probably bad." The sound abruptly ceased. "Oh, thank-" Her initial smile died in a flash. "Wait. I don't know if silence is worse or better."

Silence was the right word. The distant sounds of airships and panic were gone thanks to the walls around them. No one had any idea what might be happening beyond Diamond Dust's broken front door. The would-be Hunters looked among themselves as they tried to figure out who should go check the situation. After a few seconds of unbelievably awkward squirming, the two upperclassmen exchanged a glance and took charge. "I'll be right back," Coco volunteered herself. "Watch my ass, Yatsu."

"Of course." He followed her as she gently threaded her way through the front room. Ruby and Jaune led their teams out behind him, taking up positions behind the shelves just as Coco stepped out into the street. Yatsuhashi himself stopped in the doorway with his sword drawn.

"I mean, I don't see him," Coco called back over her shoulder. A look toward each end of the street yielded nothing either. "Nope. Coast is clear." After another cursory sweep, she turned slowly to look at the others. "Okay, kids, what now?" No sooner than she'd spoken did Opher drop in behind her, his arrival producing barely a whisper of wind. His limbs hung awkwardly; in fact, his feet weren't even touching the pavement. Coco, unaware of his arrival, blinked at Yatsuhashi's expression. "What?"

"Behind you!" he said frantically.

Turning quickly was a cumbersome process thanks to the weight of her minigun. She got it aimed at the lanky man, but couldn't pull the trigger before the gray hands of his angry Aura lodged their fingers between the barrels. It ripped the weapon from her hands and and drove it into her skull. "That _hurt_ ," it hissed as Coco fell. Before it could continue to beat her, Yatsuhashi charged in with his upraised blade.

"Move!" Ruby yelled as she watched six ghostly hands stop his overhead sword strike. Crescent Rose unfurled in her grip as she stormed toward the door. "Come on!" In the smoky sunlight she saw faint extrusions of Opher's essence appear and drop to the ground in a circular pattern around him. Tiny red flames lit themselves at the ends of those threads, but the heat they emitted was immense. Realizing something was amiss, Ruby slid to a halt and Semblance-dashed right into Yang's chest, causing a domino effect that knocked all seven of them back into the shop. "Get d-"

Their world turned a brilliant crimson as the roar of the explosion consumed Ruby's words. Opher's detonation vaporized the front of the shop; even worse, the heat ignited what few bags of Dust powder were still on the shelves. Crackles of lightning and random stones of ice pelted the hapless students as they were thrown against the back wall. Yang managed to fly through the doorway to the back room and slam against the rear door that led outside, opening it with her impact. A graveyard's worth of stillness fell on them after a few seconds, broken only by muted groans of pain.

Ruby was the first to collect herself enough to even try sitting up. Bouncing off of one of the shelves had cracked at least a few of her ribs, but she set aside the pain to figure out if they were still under threat. Fire clung to the floor near her boots. Its smoke made seeing outside impossible, but a gray light in the haze told her that Opher was still standing in the same spot as before. A limp Weiss, the only one of them not groaning, was near her left hip. "Hey, Weiss?" she whispered hoarsely. She gave her partner a gentle shake. "Weiss!" she said again, balancing her terror with a need to stay quiet.

"It's Saturday, Ruby, go back to sleep," the heiress moaned into the carpet.

"Weiss, get up!" But she wouldn't; Ruby gave up after a few more jostles and searched for her sister. "Yang!" she wheezed into the fog. "Yang?" With no sign of her, Ruby looked for her partner next. "Blake?" After a bit of crawling, she found the girl curled up on the floor at the base of the back wall. "Blake?"

"I'm fine," she lied quietly. "Give me a second."

Nora was the next to stir. "What the actual hell, man," she muttered while sitting up. A considerable gash had been opened across her forehead. Like Ruby, she needed a moment to survey the area. "Ren?" she gasped upon seeing him face-down and draped over the glass counter.

"Everything hurts," was all he could get out.

Jaune managed to stand after a moment more, though his legs could barely hold him up. "Okay, so, we need a new idea," he said hoarsely, "'cause I don't wanna make Opher any angrier than he already is." He looked back and saw Yang sitting up in the rear doorway. "How'd you get back there?"

"How do you think?" she snapped angrily. Her mood changed when Ruby stumbled around the counter and into view. "Everyone make it?"

"I think so," an uncertain Ruby said. With her and Jaune's urging, the two teams collected themselves and hid from the gray light as it began to move. "Is he leaving?"

"I'll sneak a peek," Jaune said, ignoring Ruby's frantic babbling as he moved away. "I'm not gonna fight him, it'll be fine. I'm just gonna look."

"Please don't get yourself killed," Ren advised evenly. "I don't want Pyrrha angry at us too."

"Eh, I'll be fine. I mean, we should be used to him exploding by now. I'll keep my distance." Jaune gingerly stepped around piles of rubble on his way to the gaping hole left by the explosion. After about ten feet, he was enveloped by the smoke and cut off from everyone else. "I'm still fine," he assured them as loud as he dared. "I'm out on the street now. Uh…" Coco and Yatsuhashi were nowhere to be found; considering their fate made Jaune's stomach twist into knots. Given the circumstances, he decided to leave that bit out as he spoke again. "Opher's headed toward the industrial district. Slowly. Really slowly."

Ruby was the next to brave going outside. She ended up next to Jaune as both watched Opher's glacial retreat. "Okay, well, at least he's done trying to murder us, I guess." When she realized who was missing, her blood ran cold. "Where did… oh. Oh, crap."

"Yeah." He rubbed his neck, unable to look at the massive circular scorch mark behind them. "Yeah." Sudden gunfire startled him into raising his shield. "What the-who's shooting?" At the end of the road, they could see the hardly-distinguishable forms of Atlesian soldiers firing at Opher. "Do they have a death wish?"

Ruby noted their halting bursts of fire and realized they were retreating more than engaging. "They're stalling him. Maybe reinforcements are on the way."

"I wish that was true, kid."

The startled Ruby and Jaune looked back as Qrow Branwen emerged from the acrid smoke. He waved away those fumes with a cough and watched Opher proceed down the street at a snail's pace. "Uncle Qrow!" Ruby finally blurted out. Before Jaune could add anything, Pyrrha stepped into view. "Hey, there you are. What happened?"

"He knocked me halfway across the city," she said after a small sigh. "Almost right into one of the emergency shelters. It was surrounded by the Grimm, so…"

"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha." Ruby looked over as Yang emerged with Blake on one shoulder and Weiss on the other. She blinked as Nora came out last, carrying Ren in her arms. "I guess we're done here?" she inquired of her uncle. "I mean, that's why you're here, right? To get us out?"

"Actually, no. You mentioned reinforcements, well, that would be all of us," Pyrrha explained. "Mister Branwen-"

"I sure wish you'd stop callin' me that," he complained after a quick drink from his flask.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and continued. "Every Hunter not stuck on Amity Colosseum is at Beacon trying to protect the tower."

"And so is the Atlesian military," Qrow added. "Most of Ironwood's troops are encircled on the Academy campus. It's up to us to deal with Opher Riese before he does something stupid like damage the city wall."

Yang accepted this news with a determined nod. "Fine with me."

"You mean up to _you_ , right," a crestfallen Jaune said to Pyrrha. "How much more punishment can you take?"

"Hey, wait! Chin up!" Ruby chided him. "We…" Her voice failed as she began to reply recent events. Before she'd saved her team and Jaune's from being incinerated by Opher, something about his expression had stuck. His eyes had been closed. "Wait. Was he asleep standing up?"

Qrow perked up instantly upon hearing this. "Huh? Did he look like a puppet? Limbs hangin' all weird and such?"

"Yeah!" she confirmed quickly. "Super weird."

The old Huntsman's eyes narrowed. "Shit. His Aura's in control."

"Excuse me?" Weiss said as she slipped out of Yang's grasp. Standing on her own was still a challenge, but she was determined to at least look strong. "What are you talking about? We control Aura, not the other way around."

Pyrrha folded her arms and looked away. "That's not exactly true. I wasn't in command of the Fall Maiden's power when I took out those Grimm at Beacon." Her eyes closed as she continued to process the Maiden's immense knowledge. "The older it gets, the more autonomous it can become. Aura already protects us unconsciously, even through our normal lives. Souls as ancient as Opher's and well, mine, are capable of much greater feats."

"We have to wake him up, then," Weiss concluded. "Or at least stall him until he wakes up himself. Any ideas?"

"Actually, yeah," a thoughtful Ruby said. She took stock of her bruised friends as a plan began to form in her head. Ren was still in poor shape, but at least Nora no longer had to carry him. Everyone else seemed to be mended enough to fight again. "We're gonna pair off. Someone that hits hard with someone who's fast. I'll go with Yang. Weiss, you go with Nora. Blake, it's your job to confuse Opher's Aura. I want all the clones you can drop, okay?"

"Right," she responded with a nod.

Ruby gave her a thumbs up. "Okay!" Her attention went to an awkward Jaune. "You and Ren are gonna help Blake get Opher's attention and keep it while all of them go to town on him." She swept her arm around at Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha. "Any questions?" Everyone involved shook their heads "All right." And then she looked to Qrow. "Any comments?"

An anxious Jaune folded his arms. "Is this really gonna work? The more we fight him, the madder he's going to get at us. I don't want to, you know…" He nodded at the crater. " _That_."

While Qrow shared his concerns, the old Huntsman also knew how pressed for time they were. "We're outta options. I think it's the best we've got given the circumstances."

But not even Ruby was completely sure of her plan just yet. "Pyrrha, do you think you can fight Opher to a standstill by yourself?"

The redhead's green eyes flashed orange as the Fall Maiden spoke. "I will do _whatever_ it takes."

"Okay. Scary, but okay." Ruby looked back to her uncle. "I guess you're coming with us, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Taiyang will kick my ass if something happens to you girls. Besides, I can help keep that jackass occupied while you wail on him." Qrow twirled his weapon as he shifted it into its scythe form.

Ruby nodded and turned around just in time to watch Opher retreat around a distant building. "All right. Let's follow him. If super-duper Pyrrha is a tie with him right now, then it's up to us to break it."

"Or to break him," Yang added, cracking her knuckles as they started off in pursuit.


	29. Chapter 29

Tracing Opher's path through the chaotic city was easy for the airborne Pyrrha. She watched the lanky man jerk and twitch his way through the streets, obliterating any Grimm that happened to get in his way. Not even a Death Stalker stood much chance against him; as she watched, the giant insect shattered into jagged shards of carapace as Opher's Aura treated it like a woodchipper would treat a tree. The redhead swooped down after tracking him for another moment to report to Ruby. "I think he's heading for the derailment site," she noted.

Yang growled unhappily at the news. "Oh, great. If he blows that hole open again and goes underground, Vale is screwed."

"Vale looks pretty screwed _now_ ," Nora interjected as she shifted Magnhild to her other shoulder. They looked around at the scene with various levels of anxiety; Nevermores, Griffons and the airships fighting them circled above in the smoky sky. "I'm just saying," she added.

"Anyway… we've been following him for eight blocks." Weiss looked at the others before laying eyes on her tight-lipped leader. "I don't think he's going to wake up. What should we do?"

"No choice," Ruby sighed at length. "All right. We gotta stop him. Jaune, Blake, get to the rooftops and get ready."

"Hold on, I should find some rocks to throw at him first," Jaune quipped darkly.

Pyrrha didn't appreciate his humor. "Jaune, this isn't the time."

"Hey, we have to laugh or otherwise we're gonna start crying." He offered his partner a weak smile. "If it goes wrong, it's not like you're not used to bailing me out anyway."

Qrow ignored their conversation and watched Opher round another corner. "He's going down 57th. Lots of apartment blocks to box him in. I'll fly on ahead so we can hit him from two sides at once."

"Right. Pyrrha, just go with Jaune. He might need a lift up there anyway. See you all in a little bit." Ruby watched her uncle take his bird form and flutter away into the smoky air for a moment. The redhead's flight with her partner also earned a few seconds of thoughtful examination. "I guess this is what they pay us for, huh?"

"Uh, they don't pay us," Blake noted flatly.

"After this, they better start," Weiss grumbled under her breath.

"We're about to save the city! There's gotta be _some_ money in that, right?" Ruby holstered Crescent Rose in preparation to dash. "I'm off. Yang-"

"I'm right behind you," the blonde assured her.

"Just checking." Ruby inhaled one last breath and started walking. "Ready, steady…"

There was no need to say go. The girl turned into a twirling crimson smear and blasted around the corner, where she found Opher lumbering along down a narrow side street between two tall red brick buildings. Ruby gave him a tentative smack on the way by to see if he'd react; his Aura did, but she proved too quick for it and evaded the gossamer threads that came after her. She slid to a stop in the middle of an intersection at the other end of the road. "Hey!" she yelled at Opher, stalling a bit until Yang, Nora, and Weiss came into view. "Wake up!"

"I _am_ awake," his Aura replied. Its words reverberated off of the walls.

"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to him!" Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and held it in front of her with both hands. "Wake up!" As Yang charged in from behind, Ruby dashed forth and tumbled head-over-heels. She'd effectively become a living buzzsaw by doing this, but Opher's essence deflected her blade. The impact fired her into the wall to her left, leaving her stunned.

By this time, however, Yang had arrived. While her ready fist connected with Opher's back, his Aura absorbed the shock and the subsequent gunfire. While his body jerked around to retaliate, Weiss streaked in.

"Get back!" she yelled at Yang, setting up a haphazard array of glyphs around and above him. Between these, Weiss bounced like a pinball, slashing blindly on the way by and trying to keep the gray ghost's attention. "Catch me if you can!" she taunted.

Nora took her cue and charged forward, joining Yang in a renewed attack as Ruby fired herself into Weiss' glyphs. The two girls formed a swirling pink tornado as each tried to keep Opher's Aura in check. Ren dropped in from above and inserted himself into the maelstrom as well, hacking or shooting Opher whenever he could find the chance.

This assault gave Yang and Nora plenty of time to set up their attack. They charged forward with angry screams, timing their steps with the sparks that Opher's Aura shed anytime it was struck. With a thunderous racket as Yang drove her fist into his back, Nora launched a swing right at his head.

Unfortunately, his soul stopped both. Even worse, Ren had to take an abrupt detour to avoid getting flattened by Nora's swing; Weiss stacked up behind him, losing her momentum and the focus to continue her rapid series of glyphs. This left her, Ruby, and Ren flat on their feet in front of Opher, while Yang and Nora were forced to retreat behind him.

"Reinforcements!" Ruby yelled at the sky. "Now!"

Blake descended from the heavens, evoking hardly a whisper of air as she landed on Opher's left. Before the lanky man could even pivot, there were six clones standing right next to him. Each glittered a different color of Dust. She needed to use the ribbon end of Gambol Shroud to tug Yang and Nora clear of the resulting explosion. "Jaune!" she called up.

All they could see of the screaming Jaune was his shield; he stood on it and dropped like a stone, straight into the dissipating cloud of smoke left behind by Blake's attack. While he made contact with _something_ , Jaune had no idea what it was. Nor had he long to wonder, as a torrent of water fired him clear of the scene and back into the sky. "Crap!" Ruby growled. "Try again!"

Weiss unleashed enough ice Dust to coat Opher in a layer four feet thick from head to toe, while Yang and Nora backpedaled to gain some more run-up distance. The heiress bought them only a few seconds; cracks began to form in the ice as they charged forward again. The construction exploded just as they arrived, pelting everyone on the sidewalk with shards of ice. Blake managed to dodge through the hailstorm and wrap Gambol Shroud's ribbon around both of Opher's arms. "I've got him!" she yelled to her teammates, her arms trembling as she held it taut. "Someone strike!"

Before Opher could prove Blake wrong, a screaming Pyrrha descended from the heavens, bringing Jaune and Qrow with her on a tidal wave of air. She dumped her passengers a second before slugging the lanky man directly in the face. Her punch carried such force that it launched him in a tumbling arc above the buildings; Blake barely had time to recall her weapon before getting carried along for the ride. They watched him land six or so blocks away near the skyway bridge. "Oh, man, why… why did you hit him so far away," Yang complained between breaths.

"Take a minute. We'll go get him." Qrow nodded to his nieces, then to Pyrrha. Both took to the air one way or another to chase Opher down before he recovered. To their surprise, they found him on the roof of a completely intact office building, lying flat and apparently out cold. The old Huntsman was the first to land. "Wake up," he called to Opher. "We're not done kicking your ass."

"You're a long way from managing that," Opher replied snidely. He sat up and regarded Qrow with bitter derision. "You've got some nerve, lumping yourself in with the Fall Maiden." His muted green eyes slid to Pyrrha. "I must have pissed you off. You really let me have it just now."

"I don't appreciate what you did to Jaune," she replied coldly.

"Oh?" Opher stood as he filed that away for later; right now he had a Maiden to continue testing.

Pyrrha wasn't the one that struck first, however. Qrow beat her to the attack with swings of his scythe so fast they were merely glittering blurs. Despite their speed, each hit glanced off of his iron will before Opher reached out and caught the blade between his fingers. "Flea," he muttered, slinging Qrow to the side weapon-first.

The old Huntsman easily caught himself and slid to a stop on his feet. "You tellin' me to run?" he asked, "because I'm not gonna."

"I'm telling you how much of a threat you are." Opher pointed his tattooed hand at Pyrrha next. "Come on. For the blood of your sisters."

"For the blood of her past lives, too," the redhead answered. Her resolve faded an instant later. "But…"

This hesitance went unappreciated by Opher. "Eh? You tried to murder me in a friendly spar, but _now_ there's a but? Why?"

"I was much weaker back then." Images of the unwitting carnage she'd wrought in the ruins of that destroyed apartment block weighed on her soul. The Fall Maiden's spirit gently tried to brush those pictures aside. "We are too strong now. If we keep fighting here, we-"

Opher's eyes became stone; if he wanted Pyrrha's best, then one of the screws to turn was the same as ever. The Maidens, and their shepherds too, really hadn't changed much over the centuries. "I'm not taking this fight out of the city. You either kill me here, or everyone dies while you try."

"You-" Pyrrha's words caught in her throat as she cast her eyes over Vale's skyline. Pillars of smoke dotted the horizon, through which flocks of Nevermores wandered. Some of these birds dove on targets she couldn't see, yet she knew what they were after all the same.

"Damn, and people call me a jerk." Qrow wound up for another go, but was stopped by the arrival of Ruby Rose. He watched her clamber onto the roof of the building with a frown. "Hey, kid, you might wanna-"

She cut him off with a tired, but chipper, "Cavalry's here!" as Yang and Blake climbed up right behind her. Jaune was the next to show up, breathless and stumbling over his own feet. Ruby produced Crescent Rose once she realized Opher had regained consciousness. "It worked! Now maybe _somebody_ can talk some sense into-"

Opher decided now was as good a time as any to start making Pyrrha mad. He fell upon Ruby with such speed that she barely had the time to gasp, much less bring up her weapon in self-defense. He discharged a full crystal's worth of fire Dust through his fist as he slugged her. The resultant explosion fired her straight up into the air.

Before anyone else could react, an enraged Pyrrha tackled him and hauled him into the sky. The redhead saw Ruby on her way down, but had no hands free to help her. She could only pay a second's worth attention to the tumbling girl before looking at her foe. "If you will not move," she hissed at Opher, "Then I'll _move you_!"

"Much better," he replied through a smirk. After a moment of struggle, he wrenched one hand free and placed it on her forehead. "Let's go."

Pyrrha felt a faint but growing heat through her bronze headpiece and reacted swiftly. She released her hold on him just long enough to seize him by both wrists; with eyes squeezed shut, she tapped into the Fall Maiden's power and entombed him in thick, dark wood that sprouted from her hands like a tree. The feat startled her after she found a second to realize what she'd done; with a loud snap, she separated herself from the wood and let Opher plummet to the ground. "How?" she breathed, looking at her palms. An instant's worth of introspection made her gaze at the ground below. "The planet?"

"It speaks to us," the Fall Maiden confirmed quietly.

"I… You can explain later." Pyrrha allowed gravity to take hold of her again so she could find where Opher had landed. Just after she'd started off, however, Ruby entered her mind. "Wait!" she snapped at herself, glancing around desperately for the girl. "Ruby! Where are you?!" Another look down gave her a clue. She saw a fiery Yang racing toward Opher's impact site along the rooftops; tracing her path in reverse led Pyrrha right back to the building where they'd started. Ruby had gone straight up and straight down, now merely a black and red dot among a circle of her friends and teammates.

Too concerned about her friend to press on, Pyrrha descended rapidly to see what had happened. "It's not good," Jaune admitted as the redhead's feet touched the roof. "He knocked her out cold."

Weiss had Ruby's Scroll in her hand. "Her Aura gauge is reading zero," she confirmed. "Blake, perhaps you should try and stop Yang from getting herself killed?"

She watched her partner disappearing into the distance. A trail of fire whipped out behind her. "Do _you_ want to put yourself in front of that? I sure don't." Weiss had no answer for this.

"I'll go after her," Nora said after a moment of awkward silence. "I'm probably the only one of us who take a punch from her anyways."

"I'll go with ya. Better to have backup." An incensed Qrow cast a brief look at Ruby before falling in with Nora in her journey across the rooftops.

Pyrrha watched them depart for a moment, realizing they were in danger if Opher had broken his containment. Yet, when she looked at Ruby, her urge to chase them was met by one just as strong to stay. Part of her felt at fault for the situation; this internal conflict froze her. "I…" she began, trying to work it out, "I think I have to go."

"Don't worry about us," Weiss said. "You have to go get him out of Vale before things get even worse. I'll-I mean, _we'll_ take care of Ruby."

"All… all right." One more halting glance went toward the unconscious Ruby before Pyrrha took flight after Yang. At first, the redhead kept her distance, opting to stay high in order to find out exactly where Opher had landed. At this altitude, she was forced to dodge Bullheads and Nevermores alike; their aerial battle caused Pyrrha to lose her bearings as well as sight of Yang, Nora, and Qrow. "Oh no," she muttered to herself. "Where did they-"

A brilliant yellow and orange explosion on the ground got her attention. After a moment's examination, she realized, to her horror, that it seemed to be placed about a block away from the derailment site. The area was in Yang's path, if she'd kept going the way the redhead had last seen her traveling. Pyrrha had no idea that Opher had landed so close. Perhaps he'd escaped her bonds already. She hurled herself at the cloud of smoke on the wings of a gale-force wind to find out which.

* * *

Control was beyond Yang now; despite her latest furious straight getting stopped by Opher's tattooed forearm, she kept trying to hammer him into the ground. Terrified civilians scattered in the face of her enraged onslaught. "You son of a bitch!" she roared over the crackling fire in her hair. "If you killed her-"

"You'll what?" Opher and his Aura replied coldly. He grabbed her next punch and shoved her backwards out of his latest impact crater before using a burst of wind Dust to launch her into the air.

Yang easily tumbled into a graceful landing and charged him down again. "I'll kill _you_ , that's what!" Now her fists went right at his head as she tried to back up those words. While Opher made no effort to block them, his Aura did. Her knuckles scraped repeatedly off of the ghostly fog as if it were stone.

"You're not doing a very good job of it." Opher pointed a palm at Yang, not to attack, but to set up a subtle cushion of air behind her. Once she launched another right hook at him, he flicked her arm straight up and drove his left hand into her stomach. She slammed into the wall of wind at her back and bounced forward again, only for her torso to meet his other ready fist. The blonde was robbed of her breath and curled up defensively. He used another jet of air to spike Yang into the pavement like a volleyball.

Now firmly on the back foot, Yang was forced to retreat in order to catch her breath. She launched herself into a nearby alleyway with two shots of Ember Celica. "Shit," she wheezed, stumbling away. Her Semblance, though casting a dimmer light, continued to remain active. "Keep it together," she told herself. "Should be able to let his ass have it now."

So Yang lay in wait, staring daggers at the corner of the granite building as she waited for Opher to round it and come after her. Seconds passed without his appearance. Then minutes trundled by. While everywhere _else_ in Vale seemed to be embroiled in battle, including the skies above, this piece of the city was suddenly, and frighteningly, quiet. "What gives?" Yang finally blurted out. As she started to walk toward it, however, a blinding blue flash and a clap of thunder made her retreat. A second later she guessed at its source and ran out to confirm it.

Sure enough, she was there, crackling with electricity as she and Opher stood locked in a struggle. Her downward swing of Magnhild had been stopped by his two hands; the impact still managed to sink his feet into the street by a few inches. Nora tried to yank her weapon free of his grasp. "What did you do with Yang?" she demanded angrily.

"She ran," he replied through a smile.

Nora didn't buy it. "She never runs!" One more tug and Magnhild was free, though the effort required to release it caused her to stumble backwards.

While she recovered, Qrow launched himself past her, displacing enough air to cause the parked cars on the sides of the street to move slightly. Like Nora, Opher caught his broadsword on the downswing and stopped it cold. "I'm tired of you little idiots," he grumbled to the old Huntsman. "Where is Pyrrha?"

"Here I am."

While Opher, Qrow, and Nora all looked at the descending redhead, Yang used the opportunity to get in some revenge. Her Semblance had finished converting Opher's punishment into power; she dashed forward, trailing bright yellow fire and screaming all the way. Opher turned back in time for his jaw to meet her fiery fist. The contact was so violent that his Aura outshone the sun for an instant as it radiated its energy, leaving everyone blind and stumbling. The man himself, however, remained standing right where he was. "Well," he muttered, rubbing his cheek, "You're hitting a little harder than usual."

"Opher!" Pyrrha bellowed after another moment's passage. "We're taking this into the Emerald Forest or the fight is over. I won't destroy Vale just to kill you."

Opher stared the redhead down as Nora and Qrow collected themselves behind him. "Should I smack him again?" she asked the old Huntsman.

"As much as I want to say yes..." Qrow glanced over as Yang walked up, her Semblance fading. "Hey, kid. How you holding up?"

"I shattered a Paladin with that kinda punch, but he didn't even flinch," she replied weakly. Feeling so helpless only served to re-ignite her anger. Before she could catch fire again, however, a hand came to rest on her shoulder. She looked up at Qrow. "What?"

"Don't feel bad. We couldn't crack him either. It's up to the Maiden. Has been for thousands of years." His brow furrowed. "Might be for thousands more if she can't take him out."

While they chatted, Opher considered and rejected Pyrrha's demand. "Forget it," he said coldly. "You stop me here, or you don't stop me at all."

"Then…" She paused to gaze at the smoky sky as a few Bullheads streaked over. Her green eyes then went to the empty square to their right, the site of the tunnel derailment. He'd saved the city once; perhaps she could pressure him to do it again by placing the burden on his shoulders. "I won't stop you. If Vale dies, its blood will be on your hands, not mine."

"What are you doing?!" a shocked Yang shouted. "You're the only one who _can_ stop him! Are you fucking insane?! He's already taken out Coco and Yatsuhashi!"

"What's the point of winning if I have to flatten the city to do it? The Grimm will just kill off whoever is left alive!" Pyrrha screamed back even louder. "I've already…" She hid her eyes and turned away. Yang had a point. Her friends were in serious danger so long as Opher walked Remnant. _Everyone_ was. But the overwhelmed Pyrrha found herself seized by indecisiveness. "I don't know what to do!" she shrieked with frustration.

"Maybe I should have stuck with Cinder," Opher muttered to himself. Despite Pyrrha's anguish, however, he was convinced he'd not yet seen her full strength from a fighting standpoint. If she needed more convincing, there were at least two good reasons standing right behind him. Up went his left hand, which he initially aimed at Pyrrha.

"I will not-did you not hear what I just said?" she warned him, crouching in anticipation to defend herself. What she couldn't see was the phantom tendrils of his Aura snaking out along the ground in the opposite direction.

Yang and Nora were too winded to detect their presence, but Qrow noticed a vague pricking sensation along his arms. "Hey, what's-" he started to wonder out loud.

As Opher and Pyrrha made eye contact again, he ignited every ice Dust crystal in his body. An explosive formation of frozen shards jutted out from his back and covered the street all the way to its end, tapering off at a height that rivaled the nearby buildings. They were solid white, leaving Pyrrha unable to see what had happened to his victims. "I will fill as many graves as it takes to make you kill me," he said quietly.

"Nora!" was the first word out of the redhead's mouth as her brain finally processed the scene. Her eyes flashed orange as the Maiden's might took over and launched her skyward. From her hands erupted blue-hot pillars of fire as she tried to melt her friends out of the ice, but Opher kept producing and eating ice Dust from his pockets. Despite the well of power at her command, he was able to keep up with her efforts through sheer efficiency. "Damn you!" she and the Maiden screamed at once, before Pyrrha added, "Let them go!"

"Make me!" he yelled up at her, swallowing another ice crystal right afterward.

Whispers of the Maiden's wish for revenge were necessary to push Pyrrha into further action. She abandoned trying to free her friends and attacked the source of their trouble, slashing down on Opher with a tornado of burning leaves at her back. "You never change!" the Maiden shrieked at him as she carried him off the ground. They crashed through one building, throwing punches at each other all the while, until he lit a lava Dust crystal and consumed the structure and its occupants around them. Pyrrha, or more correctly the angry spirit within, replied with a hammer of earth that sent him into another nearby building. He fired himself out of the hole and tackled her, punctuating the effort with a tremendous discharge of electricity.

With the Maiden's help, Pyrrha endured the thunderstorm and grabbed Opher by both wrists as he kept trying to electrocute her. "Every year that passes just makes you a bigger monster," the Fall Maiden spat at him.

Opher knew he couldn't penetrate her Aura with his lightning, but he kept the tongues of blue electricity arcing between them. Their trembling stalemate continued for another minute until he began to smile. Pyrrha took his smirk poorly and tried to electrocute him in return. Yellow and blue surges of energy danced around their Auras, bouncing off into the distance. Everything they struck caught fire; as the moments stacked up, the whole city block began to burn. "They're probably dead by now," he finally stated.

"Who-" A spark of realization stole Pyrrha's focus on the clash. She took the full brunt of Opher's electrical surge and flew screaming out of the ruined apartment block. Precious seconds ticked away as the redhead collected herself among the rubble. Once her bearings were collected, however, she flew not at Opher, but the massive white ice sculpture he'd left behind. "No," she breathed. "No… no!" She latched onto the first frozen spire she could reach, gripping it so hard her fingers sank into the ice. With a shrill scream, she unleashed the full might of the Fall Maiden and shattered the entire formation, flinging chunks of it into the sky. The feat startled her a bit until she hit the ground. While the hailstones fell around her, Pyrrha searched the now-empty street for her friends.

Yang was the first she found. Blue-skinned and trembling, the blonde was at least still alive. Breath left her purple lips in little clouds. Her skin was frigid to the touch. Nora's orange hair caught the redhead's eye a moment later. She was unwilling to leave Yang so soon after finding her, but something spurred her toward her teammate. "Nora?" she asked too quietly, her words lost to the pelting sounds of the ice. "Nora!" she said again. The stout girl's chest was still. Like Yang, her skin was chilly as a winter's day. With the sweep of a finger, she brought Yang over to Nora with burst of air. "Warm them up," Pyrrha muttered to herself. "I need heat." She placed one hand each on Nora and Yang and concentrated.

And the Fall Maiden provided her warmth, but that was all. A gaping sense of regret filled Pyrrha as she tried to work the cold out of the two girls. "If only Spring was here," she sighed, understanding the sentiment without really knowing why. While she worked, the redhead looked around for Qrow, but couldn't find him. A few moments later, she glanced up and saw a black bird hopping along on the broken pavement.

This creature unfurled into the old Huntsman as she watched. Qrow stumbled a few steps after his transformation and groaned. "Where the hell is Ozpin when you need him?" His disdain only grew when he realized he'd lost his weapon. "Really?" All of those concerns fell away as he finally registered his niece's condition. "Yang!"

"I'm trying to warm them up," Pyrrha explained. She shifted a bit so Qrow could kneel beside the blonde.

Nora startled to life just after she spoke. "W-w-w-w-w-what happened?" she chattered out, trying fruitlessly to sit up. "Every-everything got c-c-c-cold."

"Easy, kid." Qrow searched his pockets and eventually found two white pills. I'll give 'em these and stabilize them. You need to find Opher."

"I can't just leave-" It suddenly hit Pyrrha: where _was_ Opher? He hadn't followed her. A cursory look at the sky didn't reveal his presence either. "Where did he go?"

"Dunno, but he can't be up to anything good." Qrow stood up and smoothed back his hair. "I've got this. You'd better get going."

"All… all right." A reluctant Pyrrha withdrew her hands and also stood up. "Are you sure they're-"

"Trust me." He pointed to the sky. "Go take care of business. If you see Ruby and the others, tell them we'll meet up at the derailment site."

"Very well." Pyrrha floated gently into the air, giving Nora an awkward little wave as she went. "I'll hopefully be back soon."

* * *

Weiss stood guard over the still-unconscious Ruby as Jaune and Ren kept tabs on goings on in the distance. They had seen it all: Nora's lightning display, the huge formation of ice spring into existence and Pyrrha shattering it minutes later; in fact, the last event was the reason Blake had departed. She wanted to know what had happened to Yang. "I don't like this," the heiress stated abruptly. "It got very quiet after Pyrrha broke that ice." Despite knowing it would be fruitless, she checked her Scroll for the tenth time. "Now we don't even have short-range communications. What on Remnant is happening?"

"They've probably destroyed the lines," Jaune suggested, "or the towers got broken." He looked over at Ren for a moment. "Maybe we oughta go check-"

"I'm not sure we should split up too much," Ren cut him off gently. "In case Opher returns."

Jaune watched Ren for a moment; despite his blank stare, he knew his teammate was worried about Nora. "Yeeeaah." He rubbed the back of his necked and frowned. "Can't really leave Weiss here by herself, I guess."

Normally she would have made a remark about being more than capable of defending herself, but Weiss couldn't muster the words. She crossed her arms and watched a pair of Bullheads shoot down some juvenile Griffons. "I wish I knew what to do." She cast a long look at Ruby. "Wake up, already, lazybones. We need your planning skills."

"You know, I'm a little surprised she's still in one piece."

Weiss and the others whirled around upon hearing Opher's voice. They saw him walking slowly across the rooftop, tossing an ice Dust crystal in his left hand. He smirked a little as their weapons went up. "No, no," he added, waving them off. "Not yet."

"Stay where you are," the heiress ordered nervously.

Jaune and Ren quickly moved to her side. "Haven't you done enough?" the latter asked through a snarl.

"Apparently not, I'm still here." Opher engaged the three in a staring contest, but made no effort to strike. "I'm gonna give her a minute."

The tension eventually cracked Weiss, who found herself barely able to stand pat while Opher stood so close. She subtly put herself between him and the unconscious Ruby. "What are you _doing_?" she demanded. "What are you waiting for? If you're going to attack us, then attack us!"

"Don't encourage him!" a frantic Jaune interrupted. "Don't listen to her, man. No need to rush. Or to do anything at all, really."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm gonna fuck you up. In a minute." Opher shielded his eyes and searched the air for Pyrrha. "Huh. I wonder what's taking her so long. Maybe I actually _killed_ Yang and Nora."

"Excuse me?!" Weiss took one stepped forward before stopping herself. Opher wanted Pyrrha here for some reason, but they _needed_ her here if they wanted any chance of surviving the encounter. She glanced to the side just in time to see an angry Ren coiled up for an attack. "No. Ren, no. We have to-"

He ignored her pleading. "What did you do to Nora?"

"The same thing I'm about to do to you." He finally saw the redhead's approach from the north and smiled. "Here she comes. Okay, then, looks like your time is up."

"Wait-why us?!" Jaune exclaimed from behind his shield. "Er, I mean, I know we've been attacking you for like, the past hour, but…"

"Actually, I'm not really mad at you for trying to stop me. What else were you supposed to do?" Opher lit a blue flame in each of his hands and strode toward them. "No hard feelings. You guys are just the means to my end."

"We're not objects to be used!" Weiss dropped a glyph right under her feet and fired herself at him, leading with the point of Myrtenaster. A gray appendage shot out from his chest and grabbed her blade, forcing it upward. She dangled from it while trying to trigger a Dust release, but her weapon's mechanism jammed. "Don't just stand there!" she screamed at Jaune and Ren.

"Right! Coming!" Jaune led the charge with an awkward yell, only for Opher to smack him off to the side.

The infuriated Ren was a far harder target to hit; he became a green and white blur that swirled around Opher and stole his concentration. This forced his Aura to let Weiss go. She used the chance to clear Myrtenaster's Dust ports and regroup. "Ren! I'm on my w-"

Ghostly fingers wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the roof. Ren slammed into a ready ashen fist as he tried to slit Opher's throat. Jaune recovered and stood up just in time to find himself wrapped in gossamer threads that tugged him closer to the lanky man. "Hey! Let me go!" he yelled, the only one of the three still able to speak. He got off one or two hacks at the Aura holding Weiss before Opher's right hand knocked Crocea Mars away. "No!"

The sound of Pyrrha's shrieking rage reached them before the redhead herself did. She and Opher clashed again, producing a conflicting storm of ice shards and red leaves so thick they blocked out the sky for blocks around. Her Aura and his gleamed like magma; they made contact with a screech so violent it blew out the windows of the building upon which they stood. That glass wasn't the only thing to give. Jaune and Weiss found themselves in a world of silent chaos as their eardrums failed. The heiress experienced this quiet for only a moment before losing consciousness. Ren, knocked out by Opher's ghostly fist, woke up to it before the pain took him away again. Blood poured from all of their ears.

Opher discarded Weiss' limp body, tossing it over to Ruby to give him a few free hands. He managed to force Pyrrha backwards on a sheet of ice and showed her the bleeding Jaune. "Well?" he asked while throwing him aside.

"You will _cease_ to exist!" Pyrrha snapped at him. She reached down toward the building and clenched her fists; the strain in her muscles made it seem as if she was trying to lift the structure through sheer force of will. Her arms thrust skyward as the Maiden's might exploded through her hands, giving birth to an instant forest of oak and maple trees whose branches all reached out to ensnare him.

He easily cut through the wood with blades of blue fire. "You love your trees, don't you Fall?"

Pyrrha only growled in reply as she continued to tap her new power. Trees sprang up as fast as he burned them down. In mere moments they were surrounded by burning stumps. In order to protect her unconscious friends from the heat, she tried to keep Opher occupied and stifle the conflagration simultaneously with jets of water. Controlling all of these at once proved too tall an order for her rudimentary grasp of the power. Instead, she unleashed a concentric blast of ice and air to snuff out the flames and knock Opher down. "Go…" she spat between heavy breaths, "go back to your precious valley and rot, monster."

Clouds of steam billowed from Opher's skin as he dried off from her outburst. "What did you say?" he asked, growing agitated at the weakness in her voice.

"Go…" Pyrrha dropped to a knee as her chest grew tight. "What-?"

"Are you kidding me?" An angry Opher stormed over and snatched the redhead up by her long ponytail. "I gave you an eight hundred year head start and this is the best you've got, you fuck?!"

"Perhaps you should stop fighting children," the Fall Maiden replied snidely. "Or give me a chance to find my sisters."

A few feet away, Ruby's eyes fluttered open. Her vision was cloudy, but the hellscape she woke up to startled her to her feet before she was ready to stand. Pain nearly brought her right back down. "What the heck…" she breathed, clutching the sides of her head. "Tree stumps?" Ren was the first casualty to catch her eye. A mumbled "Hey?" escaped her lips while she tried to find her ability to yell. "Ren?" She stumbled toward him, only to trip over Jaune with a gasp. Her initial reaction was joy, until she saw the puddle of blood under his head. And then her blurry sight fell upon Opher, who still had Pyrrha by the hair. "Him!" she gasped, searching blindly for her weapon. "Gotta… gotta fight. Gotta-"

She saw a white blob next to a red one and knew instantly it had to be Weiss with Crescent Rose. When her fingers touched the crimson patch, however, they drew back the blood that had pooled under Weiss' head. Ruby could only stand and blink until at last her vision cleared to reveal the truth. "Weiss?" she said. "What happened?" Sounds to her right gave her the answer. A visibly angry Opher still had Pyrrha by the hair. Ruby's face went blank. "You." Her partner was down. Her sister and uncle were nowhere in sight. Vale burned like a giant candle around her. Grimm and the screams of their victims continued to fill the sky. "You," she stated again, her heart afire with misery. "You…"

Anguish contorted into rage. It felt like literal flames were searing Ruby's lungs as she stumbled toward Crescent Rose. She picked it up with trembling hands as tears fell from her eyes. They burned like molten starlight; in fact, they seemed to be casting _actual_ light. Her vision started to fade to white. "What," she screamed, so bellicose and powerful it visibly rattled Pyrrha's and Opher's exposed Auras, "have you done?!"


	30. Chapter 30

Opher discarded Pyrrha and eyed the glowing Ruby with some curiosity. Even the sniper-scythe in her hands seemed to be shining now. With every passing second, Ruby's Aura became more visible; like his own Aura, its white presence changed shape as he watched. It eventually settled into flickering, flame-like tongues. "Eh? What's this?" he eventually asked out loud.

Pyrrha fought with the discomfort in her chest as she stood up and looked as well. "Ruby?" She inquired within to determined what had happened, but the Fall Maiden had no answers for her. "What's going on?"

The girl herself had no need for words. She swung Crescent Rose at Opher despite not being close enough to actually hit him. A curved bolt of energy left the blade; though he managed fairly easily to dodge under it, its heat still penetrated his Aura on the way past and left a distinctive tingling sensation in its wake. "Hot," Opher said, almost involuntarily. He and Pyrrha watched the bolt crash into a nearby office building and cleave the top right off. "Sharp!" the lanky man added, genuinely impressed by the display.

The redhead was less approving. "Ruby, no!" she snapped, rushing over unsteadily to her. "What are you d-"

"Move," Ruby uttered, snapping her left hand out and flinging Pyrrha to the side on the back of a scorching gale. She approached Opher one step at a time, leaving a trail of dimly glowing footsteps in her wake. The air around her body shimmered so much that Ruby appeared to be underwater. With one hand, she whipped Crescent Rose around and fired another bolt of energy at Opher.

He didn't consciously evade this one; instead, his Aura yanked him off to the side before Opher could even react to the white scimitar of light. Like the one before it, this energy flew onward until striking and annihilating one of the supports of a nearby skyway bridge.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha shrieked, watching as the structure collapsed a few seconds later. Tumbling cars were amongst its debris. "Stop! You're going to destroy the city!"

"So long as _he_ dies with it," the power within her replied.

"Oh, really?" But before Opher could try to counterattack, his Aura yanked him clear off of the roof and out of sight. "Hey!" he yelled as he flew. "What are you doing?"

Ruby sprinted after him and leaped from the building before Pyrrha could even react. "Wait!" the redhead screamed after her. "Ruby, wait!" She stopped at the edge and looked down; neither Opher nor Ruby were in sight, at least not on the ground below. Her eyes went skyward to make sure they weren't flying; the sky proved just as empty of their presence, so she turned away from the edge. "Terrific." After a second to compose herself, Pyrrha moved over to Jaune, Ren, and Weiss to check on them. An easily-breathing Ren seemed to be in the best shape of all three despite the bleeding, so she left him to recover while Jaune got her attention next.

"Whaaaaaaaat…" he groaned as Pyrrha tried to sit him up. For him, the world was still silent; his first instinct was to yell about this fact at full volume. "I can't hear anything!"

Pyrrha frowned at the blood and patted herself down to find her Scroll. Once she had the device, she typed out a message and showed it to her partner.

"What?" he yelled, taking it to get a better look. "My eardrums are…" And then he became much quieter. "Oh. Great." All the redhead could do was offer him an awkward smile before adding some more text. "I don't think I have much choice _but_ to stay here, do I?" he replied.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said reflexively. She motioned for him to stay put while she darted over to Weiss, who was in worse shape than Jaune. No amount of jostling could get the heiress awake. "Weiss?" the redhead urged anyway. "Weiss…"

"You'd better go."

Pyrrha looked over her shoulder as her partner arrived on unsteady steps. "Jaune?" she said, despite knowing he couldn't hear her.

"I'll keep an eye on Weiss until Blake or Nora or _somebody_ gets back," he said hoarsely. After another moment, he sank to his knees and handed Pyrrha her Scroll back. "Seriously. Vale needs you. You can't worry about us right now."

"But-" The Maiden within her lurched as the scope of her new responsibilities came to the fore once again. "I can't just leave you here," she typed out and showed to Jaune.

"I know, but…" Jaune fell silent as a white flash drew their eyes to the right. It was clearly Ruby's fault; curved extrusions of white energy flew through the skyline, lopping off bits of it that collapsed among plumes of dust and fire. It seemed that Ruby was heading north toward the nearest section of the city wall. "What's that?" he asked. "Opher?"

"Ruby," Pyrrha explained out loud, and via text. Despite her desperate wish to remain with Jaune, her duty only grew clearer with each passing second. "You're right," she admitted lowly. "I have to go."

Jaune stood up as she did, visibly confused. "Wait, what happened to Ruby?"

A silent Pyrrha's brows furrowed. She typed out the truth to him: "I don't know, and neither does the Fall Maiden."

"Oh well." Jaune rubbed his temples, wincing with the act, and looked down at Weiss. "I'll, uh, I'll just hang out here until she wakes up. Then we'll get out of here, I guess?"

"No," the redhead said harshly. She had to shake her head to get her point across. "Stay," she mouthed, pointing at the roof. Pyrrha flung a bright blue fireball into the sky to serve as a signal flare, then seized Jaune in a tight hug. "I'll be right back," was the message she left on her Scroll for him before taking to the sky.

"Okay. See you!" he answered too loudly. As he watched her hurtle toward the terrible white light show in the distance, however, his heart began to sink. "I hope."

* * *

Opher's Aura continued to jerk him around the corners of whatever building it approached, and nearly every time it did a saber of white-hot light would chase him. Ruby's pursuit of him was relentless; he barely had the time to note their current surroundings. In this sector, Vale's streets were choked with Grimm, a writhing black carpet that coated the pavement. They all surged toward the thick steel doors of what he assumed to be an emergency shelter. How those doors had held on this long, Opher couldn't say, but they Grimm they resisted caused his Aura enough trouble in moving him that it reverted to slashing the beasts to ribbons. "About damn time," he muttered while regaining control of his own limbs. "What's your problem all of a sudden?"

The fiercely-glowing Ruby shot into view a second later. Grimm attracted her attention for but a moment; like Opher's essence, her own fiery Aura set about culling their numbers. The method was different, however. Whatever Grimm tried to attack her simply exploded in the face of her volcanic anger, popping like grapes with a sickening noise whenever she looked at them. "What did you do to Yang?!" she demanded of Opher. "And Weiss? Where's my uncle?!"

"I dunno, they're probably-" He fell silent at the direction of his Aura and blinked. While the Grimm around him surged toward Ruby to attack, his Aura forced him to duck into the tide and out of sight. A long series of displeased grumbles, the only sounds he could get past his Aura, came out as he was dragged. "Excuse me, but I'm in charge of this body, not you," he finally managed to blurt out. With some effort, he managed to turn and watch as Ruby vaporized the dozens of Grimm in her path. "Hey, that looks like-" Now he understood. His Aura realized it before Opher did; after all, true fear was something he hadn't known for many thousands of years. Its chilly fingers suddenly gripped his soul. Ruby's Aura had become, for all intents and purposes, just like his. Yet hers had a fiery quality his own could not match. Even he needed to make some contact with the Grimm to shred them.

Ruby did not. The beasts continued to evaporate merely by meeting her steely gaze. A huge Ursa managed to get the closest yet, but she walked right through it as the creature boiled away before her. "Stop running!" she screamed. Another horizontal swipe of Crescent Rose set fire to the ebony hordes; in turn, they set fire to Vale as they ran to escape those flames. In ten seconds, she'd cleared the entire area of Grimm. Only Opher remained, standing in the center of the empty street. "There you are," she murmured, regarding him with a bitter glare.

A glare through which her power flowed; it met Opher's Aura and their clash emitted the noise of ten thousand fingernails on a chalkboard. Despite the sensation of invisible lava that tore into his nervous system, his essence held. "Finally," he said with a wide smile. "The fight I've been looking for."

But his twitching Aura didn't feel so confident. Once more, it yanked him away from her and around the corner of a shop. This time, however, he ran right into the incoming Pyrrha. "Opher!" she snapped a moment after their collision. "You have to cease this at once!"

"Yeah, tell _her_ that," he replied with a thumb over his shoulder. Ruby appeared in another instant, swinging Crescent Rose and discharging another bolt of energy that obliterated the buildings between which they stood. Pyrrha concealed herself underneath a shell of thick oak as the structures collapsed on their heads. Opher chose to let the rubble stack up around him as he gazed at Ruby.

Before the concrete could fully entomb him, however, Pyrrha opened a gap in her shield and yanked him inside. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?!" she yelled over the rumbling.

"I think she's pissed at me," was his answer. They both ducked as a white light sliced through Pyrrha's wooden bulwark. Ruby charged through a moment later, splintering the oak with the blade of Crescent Rose. That Pyrrha might be in the way didn't trouble her in the least; she swung furiously at Opher, discharging energy with each attack. The redhead fired a wall of ice at her, slowing Ruby down just enough for the both of them to escape skyward. "So, we've got a problem," he added after they'd landed on a nearby roof.

"I don't have time for your humor," Pyrrha warned him firmly.

Opher crossed his arms and glared. "She's turned into me."

She lost her seriousness and stared at him. "I… what?"

"Her Aura and mine are pretty damn similar all of a sudden." He paused to sneak a glance over the edge of the building and found Ruby screaming up toward them. "Here she comes."

"Are you _helping_ him?" she bellowed at Pyrrha upon arrival. A mere glower knocked her down, but Ruby averted her eyes after a second. "Why would you do that?"

Fierce tingling in her limbs stole Pyrrha's breath at first, but she managed to scramble back to her feet. "I'm not! I'm trying to get you to stop destroying the city!"

Unfortunately, Ruby had already discarded her interest in the exchange and flung herself at Opher once more. He met her charge with an explosive emission of earth and ice Dust, though she vaporized a hole in his wall with absolutely no effort. After making it through, she loosed a one-handed swing of her fiery weapon and finally made contact. Crescent Rose pierced Opher's torso on its way around, leaving Opher staggered and stumbling. A panicked Pyrrha launched herself over and grabbed him out of Ruby's path. "Stop!" the angered girl shrieked, her Aura flaring ever brighter.

Opher continued to maintain consciousness despite the injury. He looked up as Pyrrha hauled him into the sky once again. "Weren't you just trying to kill me like, twenty minutes ago?"

"You're-" The redhead looked at his stomach and found no apparent signs of Ruby's attack; apparently, his Aura had already mended the external damage. This only served to galvanize the reason she'd saved him in the first place. "She's out of control. I'm going to need your help to stop her." They both looked back as an enraged Ruby gave chase on wings of white fire. "If we can even get _away_ from her."

"If you really think you can compete with her, I've got some bad news." The tingling sizzle of Ruby's slash still lingered in his bones. While his brain interpreted it as heat, that wasn't the whole story; it fought his Aura's healing until the gray ghost finally overwhelmed it. He'd never encountered an enemy, or a feeling, like this before. "I have an idea." Able to propel himself again, he gently swatted away Pyrrha's grip and surged forward on a wave of wind.

"Wait!" Pyrrha yelled. To keep up, she was forced to invoke a fiery detonation at her back which slung her forward. Over her shoulder, she saw Ruby enter the orange plume and cut right through it, unharmed. "She's too fast!" Another problem soon impeded them: the crowded nature of Vale's airspace. While all three annihilated any Nevermore or Griffon that got in their way, Opher and Pyrrha were forced to weave under Bullheads and larger airships to avoid taking them down. Ruby, meanwhile, treated them as she did the monsters, slicing through their hulls with little regard. "Where are we going?!" the redhead yelled over the explosion of one such unfortunate Bullhead.

Opher squinted at the smoky distance. "Somewhere we can all be alone together."

"What are you talking about?" Pyrrha yelled back at him. He dove straight down before she realized both where they were and what his plan was; he plunged into the concrete and stone of the derailment site, vanishing underground. "Wait!" she yelled uselessly. Ruby streaked by and followed him before the redhead could make herself give chase. All three of them ended up in the pitch-black train tunnel. Opher and Ruby's Aura were the only sources of light.

"We shouldn't be down here," Pyrrha stated nervously. Beyond them glittered the obsidian bulwark the Opher had created weeks earlier. Heaven only knew what lurked behind it, but the darkness crawled with muffled scratching and growling. "Do you hear that?" she said, pointing at the black stone. "If that wall falls, Vale is doomed! We can't fight here!"

Opher flicked a bead of sweat off of his nose, his eyes never once leaving Ruby's. "Then you should stop chasing us and go save it."

"But-"

The screeching displeasure of Opher's Aura cut Pyrrha short; she watched as Ruby sprinted forward and delivered a whistling overhead slash. It was his essence, not the man himself, that eventually slowed and stopped her blade. The act sent boiling shudders of unease through Opher's nerves. When he launched his counterattack, it was again his Aura that did all of the work, contorting into blades that tried to pierce Ruby's flesh. The heat of her power deflected those knives without her even needing to move a muscle. Pyrrha watched helplessly as their souls intertwined and emitted ear-shattering squeals that cracked the tunnel walls. Driven by the pain, the redhead made her escape and left Ruby and Opher behind.

His Aura tried to smother her, but those icy gray fingers were met but the stellar rage of her might and repelled as clouds of diffuse, ashen vapor. Like Opher, the white-eyed Ruby didn't have to move to leverage her power; it simply reacted to her will, flowing like lava wherever it detected a ghostly hand. Opher could not drive her back. His soul began to creak under the strain of trying; all that feeling brought was a smile. "I guess I finally pissed off the right person," he shouted over the shrill thunder of their entanglement.

"What did you do to them?!" she boomed again, thrusting him backwards along the warped train tracks.

He was so close now. While his wailing Aura continued to uselessly swat at Ruby, Opher himself decided to ensure what he suddenly saw as the inevitable. "Yang and Qrow? They're probably dead by now. As for the rest, who knows?" he explained with a blank gaze.

These words accomplished what his physical power couldn't. A stunned Ruby stumbled backward a few steps before a new wave of anger consumed her. Consumed by white light, she uttered a terrific scream. Crescent Rose emitted a few clicks as she whipped it into its war scythe form and drove it into Opher's chest with every ounce of strength she had. Awful screeches rang out as their Auras clashed again, but her essence began to burn his away as if it were morning fog. "Stop!" Opher demanded, trying fruitlessly to push back on Crescent Rose.

But Ruby kept screaming and shoving him forward. To slow her down, Opher discharged ice Dust into wall formations behind him, but the force of her charge shattered one, then two, then three of the structures. Each impact forced a grunt from Opher's lips as her momentum only increased. She finally met an object that she couldn't pierce; the obsidian wall formed from the eruption Opher used to stop the Grimm. The blade plunged into it and stuck fast. With one last flare-up of her power, Ruby's grip on Crescent Rose failed as she wobbled back and eventually lost consciousness. Without their souls to light it, the tunnel fell into darkness again.

Opher found himself impaled and without most of the gray fog that had been his companion for so long. "Oh," he gasped. Pain wasn't quite the word for what filled his chest. It fell more along the lines of intense discomfort, with some shortness of breath attached. He knew the damage was far worse than that. Yet his brain couldn't fully process its extent, even as what was left of his Aura tried to patch it up. "Well then," he finally groaned into the abyss, "I guess I'm stuck here for a while."

As his eyes adjusted to the single shaft of dim light where he and Ruby had made their plunging entrance, he saw someone else arrive. Cloaked in an orange glow, Pyrrha dropped to the ground and walked forward. "Hello?" she called. "I heard Ruby scream. What happened?"

"She's down there somewhere." Opher continued to struggle with Crescent Rose. No amount of grunting and tugging could dislodge its blade from his chest. "I am actually stuck now."

Pyrrha's first priority was Ruby, however. She dropped to a knee beside the unconscious girl to determine her condition. Her breathing seemed normal enough; the redhead decided to let her rest on the tracks for a moment while she looked up at Opher. "I'd ask what she did, but…" her eyes went to the dimly glittering shards of ice scattered all around. "...I think I already get the picture."

Opher had no reply; he was too busy waiting for the usual sensations of his healing to kick in. "She was-" A wet cough stopped him short. He wiped off the liquid now clinging to the corner of his lips and looked at it. It wasn't spit, nor blood. In fact, it seemed more like stone slurry and bore a weird salmon pink color. "Oh. That's new."

"What?" Pyrrha never got an answer to her question. The muffled growls and scratches of the Grimm pent up behind Opher's wall had gotten louder. "That doesn't sound good." She watched the impaled Opher struggle a bit with an awkward look. "Are you all right?"

"I could be better." The healing he expected had yet to arrive. "I think she fucked me up pretty good. My Aura is mostly gone."

With nothing else to do at the moment, Pyrrha decided to walk over and try to free him. She gave Crescent Rose a one-handed tug to see how stuck it was. "Wow," the redhead breathed. She tried a two-handed pull and still got nowhere. "How in the world did Ruby manage to do this?"

"Turns out she gets pretty strong when you make her mad. Who knew." Opher still didn't feel distressed by the situation, although something close was beginning to creep into his mind. "Hey, at least it worked. There's still a city for you to save."

With Ruby no longer a threat, however, Pyrrha's mood toward Opher soured again. She turned her back on him. "It's your fault the city needs saving in the first place."

"I never said it wasn't." By now, Opher was tired of feeling like a fish on a hook, but no amount of struggling could get Crescent Rose out of his chest. He didn't even have enough Aura to grip it; all of his remaining essence was focused around the wound. "Seriously, I can't get down."

"Serves you right." Pyrrha glanced around as the scratching of the Grimm got louder. She looked down at Ruby next, unwilling to wake the girl and risk triggering her enraged state again. "You don't sound like you're in much pain."

"Well…" he muttered to himself. A bit of thought led him to say, "I might not remember how to feel it," a few seconds later.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "That's impossible."

"How would you know?" he fired back. "You're not the person who's been alive for eight thousand years."

"I-" The redhead ceased speaking with a tight-lipped frown. "Fair enough, I guess." They stared at each other for a few awkward seconds. "What?"

Opher glanced at the muffled growling that continued to leak through the stone behind him. "Sounds like they're getting closer. Or maybe bunched up."

" _Something_ is going on, definitely." A piercing noise rattled their ears. In the orange light, Pyrrha saw a crack racing through the obsidian. "Oh no…" she gasped, stepping back. "The wall!"

He watched the crack form for a moment. "It's just one crack." That is, until it forked halfway along its length and sent another line shooting off. The sound of another one opening in the opposite direction made him look over. "Maybe not."

"We have to go!" The redhead surged forward and latched onto Crescent Rose with both hands to yank it out of Opher and the wall. No amount of physical strain could free the weapon; she backed off and raised her hands in preparation to use the Maiden's might.

"No," he said, raising his own and motioning for her to stop. "Forget it. You're gonna break the wall trying to get me out."

Whether it was the Fall Maiden's morality or her own driving Pyrrha now didn't matter; it filled her heart with terrifying resolve. "I have to try!" she yelled as her Aura flared into view once again.

"You're still gonna try and save me after everything?" he remarked with a smile. "Carmine really would be proud."

"I'm saving you so you can answer for this," Pyrrha replied darkly. But the attempt to tap into her power caused a miserable pain to engulf her chest. She dropped to one knee as her hands lowered. "Agh!" A second later she tried to stand again and dropped to both knees. "What's going on?"

"I suspect it's one of the problems of being a forged Maiden and not a natural one. They usually get a whole childhood to get used to their strength. You're not so lucky." Opher examined their situation with a morbid sense of humor and chuckled. "Look at this. You can hardly stand, Ruby's out cold, and I'm nailed to the wall. She's killed all three of us and Vale too."

"No she hasn't!" Pyrrha hauled herself upright once more, although this time she only had the strength to raise one arm. Her soul cried out to the Fall Maiden's power, and it answered, but she could not make her exhausted body convert and apply its might. Again, she fell to her knees. "Damn it!"

"Maybe you should just take the little firebrand and get out of here."

Pyrrha looked up at Opher and noted the pinkish substance now steadily dripping from his mouth. The scratching and growling of the Grimm continued to grow louder. "Even if I wanted to, I can't. Your wall is the only thing keeping Vale from being flooded with Grimm. I have to get you down so we can repair it."

And then it hit Opher: this entire time, his Aura still hadn't recovered. Given long enough he assumed it would, but right now it was in no state to stop him from trying to die. "I don't need to be gotten down," he said gravely. His knees came up so he could reach the pockets on his cargo pants; from these he produced four gleaming orange Dust crystals.

"What are you doing?!" Pyrrha put herself between Opher and Ruby as he tried to light the crystals in his hands. Nothing happened. "Opher?" she said, dropping her arms to look at him.

"Okay, so, I don't have enough Aura to explode," he growled. "We're in trouble." He stared at a horrified Pyrrha until another idea hit him. "But you might."

"What?" The redhead reflexively caught the crystals as he tossed them her way. "Wait a second! I can't kill you! I've killed enough people today!"

"You want me to answer for what I've done?" Opher spread his arms out wide as a claw abruptly protruded from the base of the obsidian wall. "Then I choose you to be my judge. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I…" Pyrrha watched him reach into his pockets again; she expected to get another crystal, but this time it was a gold coin that he threw at her. "What is this?"

"The last physical object I have that came from my old village." He looked down as a whole paw emerged from the stone. "I'm not asking you to kill me, Pyrrha. I'm asking you to let me go see the people I've lost."

The redhead's jaw set as she put the coin into a pouch on her belt. She suddenly wished she still had the Fall Maiden's hatred to make her decision a little easier. "I'd say that I hate you, Opher, but..." she said, raising her arms a third time. The crystals glowed in her clenched fingers. As she again called on the Maiden's might, a little bit of the spirit's immense loneliness came with it. Her green eyes shone brilliantly. "All I feel is… empty."

"Welcome to my life." Opher shrugged with a smile. "Hey, uh, if you ever meet the Spring Maiden, tell her I said hello. Then duck, 'cause after she hears what I've been doing, she might want to slap the messenger."

Pyrrha couldn't help but snort at him. "I'll be sure to give her your best."

They shared one last smile. Her eyes then narrowed as the Fall Maiden's will wrapped its claws around her heart. She built up its momentum until the moment an Ursa's head finally pierced the black stone under Opher's feet; as she directed the power through her arms, a guttural scream followed. He welcomed the bubbling orange tidal wave that exploded toward him with open arms. The intense heat easily pierced his skin; for an instant it was unbearable, unimaginable pain before his nerves were vaporized. He watched as his tattoos disappeared into the boiling torrent, then the muscle, then his bones from the fingers down toward his arms. As he expected, what was left of his Aura concentrated itself around his most vital organs, but it fought a losing battle. Soon his legs boiled away as well, leaving him a rapidly evaporating torso and head surrounded by the unstoppable tide of molten rock. Despite the blinding light that surrounded him, he could still Pyrrha's face. Or, perhaps, it was Carmine at which his mind's eye looked. He could no longer tell the difference. Before his lungs and mouth were lost to the inferno, a smiling Opher closed his disintegrating eyes and managed to gasp out his relief in three simple words. "It's... about time."


	31. Epilogue

A perturbed Mercury Black knocked three more times on the red door before which he stood. Silence was his reply, as it had been each time he'd knocked previously. Sighing, he stepped away from it and turned to walk down the dark, dirty hallway. "This is beyond ridiculous," he muttered under his breath. His next words were much louder. "We've got enough to deal with without you moping around!" He glanced out one of the dingy windows into the abyssal night. The portion of Vale he could see was devoid of its usual glittering streetlights. Only the glow of the broken moon allowed him to see much of anything. He dismissed the sight with a snort and walked away. "I can't wait to get the hell out of here."

The bouncing glow of a flashlight's beam drew his eye as he reached the top of the stairs. Coming up the steps to meet was Neo. With electricity supply intermittent at best in the days since the incident, the diminutive criminal had been reduced to writing on notepads instead of using her Scroll. She awkwardly scribbled down a question, tore the page off, and handed it up to him. "What's up, shorty?" he asked. Neo directed her flashlight so he could see the words. "Oh, Roman wants to know if Emerald's coming out." Mercury crumpled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder. "Afraid not. I don't know what else to do," he said while nodding back toward the door. "Does he want me to break the door down?"

Neo danced out another scribble and gave it to him. What he read made Mercury blink with surprise. "Oh, what? They're down there going over the plan right now? Why didn't he tell me?"

This time, Neo replied with a shrug and a point at the door. She gingerly departed back down the stairs and soon vanished out of sight, leaving Mercury in the dark. "Son of a bitch," he complained under his breath. He returned to the red door on heavy footsteps and knocked much harder than before. "Emmy! Get out here! They're gonna leave us behind!" When she failed to answer, he kept pounding on the door. "Damn it, come on!"

The door suddenly flew open into his face, forcing him to stumble back against the wall. A silent Emerald stood in the doorway. Her eyes were obscured by her dingy green locks until she lifted her chin. "Who's going to leave us behind this time?" she asked weakly.

Her demeanor left Mercury uncertain, but her appearance was even worse. He'd never seen Emerald look so defeated before. "Look," he began, "Roman's got the band together so we can think of a way out of Vale." He waved toward the end of the hallway. "Then we can get into contact with the big boss. See what they want us to do next."

"I'm sure they'll be _so_ happy to see us after hearing that Cinder is dead." She could not stifle the tears quickly enough to prevent a few from running down her dirty cheeks. "She doesn't have room for failures, Mercury."

"Whatever. Anything is better than hanging around here while the Grimm strangle Vale to death." He turned on his heel and waved for her to follow him. "Come on, Emmy. Let's get back on the horse. Even if we die trying."

Emerald didn't really appreciate his upbeat mood, but she pursued him down the hallway regardless. It gave her something else to think about. "You're awfully damn chipper."

"One of us has to be." Mercury stayed close in order to help lead her down the spiraling staircase. At its bottom stood a relatively large rectangular room with bay windows on one side and two doors leading elsewhere opposite them. In the center, on a large round wooden table, sat a pile of papers and maps. Neo dutifully shined her light on them while Roman and a few others examined their contents. Beyond that cone of illumination, the rest of the room was inky black. Mercury took his place at the table on Roman's left, with Emerald moving to his other side. "Yo, we're here."

"About time," Roman said evenly. "Violet, be a dear and give them the short version of our little scheme so far?"

Her cat ears twitched a bit as she acknowledged their arrival. "The idea is to raid a military post north of the river and steal a Bullhead. That should have the range to get us to the Forever Fall rail terminal," she explained, her fingers traveling along the map from their target to the terminal. "What's left of the White Fang is gonna meet us there. Then it's on to Vacuo by train."

Emerald emitted an unhappy noise and turned her head. Mercury decided not to give her a chance to lose her cool by asking questions. "That's cool, but how exactly do we plan on snatching a military airship _from_ the military?"

"Neo will have the pleasure of fooling some of the guards," Roman said, smirking down at his bite-sized partner. "Unfortunately, there might be too many for her to handle." His eyes went to Emerald, who currently with her back to him as she hugged herself. "Which is why we need you, if you're done hiding."

His remark made her glower into space. Once she'd collected herself, she replied, "I can only deal with a couple of people at once. How many are we talking about here?"

"Oh, a bunch," Violet shuffled through some of the documents on the table. "Rooftop guards, street-level patrols, and god knows how many soldiers are inside the building."

Mercury shot a glare at Roman. "That's not a number, that's a guess. Are we going into this blind?"

"You should know better than that." He drew in a few puffs of his cigar and looked toward one of the dark corners. "All right, little lady, it's your turn. Take us to school."

"Huh?" Emerald turned just as Indigo Stahl emerged into the dim light. "Are you kidding me?!" she snapped, reaching for her revolvers.

"Nice to see you again too," Indigo quipped evenly. She didn't bother going for either of the rifles on her own shoulders. "Just shut up and listen." As she took stock of the maps laid out before her, Schwarze sidled up to stand at her side. "I can knock down the rooftop snipers from here," she began, pointing to a building several blocks east of the post, "and that'll raise the alarm. The guard shacks are concentrated to the west side, so you'll wanna come in from the east. I can set up shop on the apartment block across the street and cover these two," she concluded, nodding to Neo and Emerald.

Roman nodded thoughtfully. "What about the hangars?"

Indigo's ochre eyes darted around. "When I kill the guys on the HQ roof, they'll pull out the hangar patrols to help lock down the building. Standard Valesian Army procedure. Take out the short-range communications rig here," she said, pointing at a picture of the facility, "kill everyone in the base, and you've got a ride out of Vale You won't have much of a window before the surrounding posts respond, but a good pilot can get us outta there."

"That's where we come in," Violet said, waving between herself and Mercury. "We should be more than enough to take out a few exhausted soldiers. If not, well, you'll all be there. Anyway, I'll be bringing our pilot."

"What in the hell could you _possibly_ be getting out of this?"

The assembly looked at Emerald before a smiling Indigo issued her answer. "I get to go to Vacuo and hop on an airship to Mistral. Fuck this kingdom. I'm more worried about my family."

"And you?" Emerald added, staring at Schwarze.

"Ruby Rose…" Schwarze glanced off and fell silent. All the while, she maintained her awkward grin. "There's nothing left for me here now. And someone has to keep Indy in line, right?"

"Moving on," Roman interjected with an irritated motion. "I get the how, the what, and the where, but I need a when so Junior and I can round up a little more muscle."

"I'm ready to go whenever you are," Indigo stated. "But we've got a hard time limit. There's an Atlesian aid convoy coming in about three days. The Army is going to Condition White to provide enough ground-level protection for them when they get here. If they do… you can forget it. It might be four or five weeks before things cool off enough for us to try this shit again."

"Oh no. No, no, no, I am _not_ spending another month of my life in this rotting corpse of a city." Roman puffed at his cigar again. "We'll go 48 hours from…" He paused to eye his watch and found it was 11 PM sharp. "Now. I'd suggest tying up whatever loose ends you've got."

Indigo continued to pore over the papers. "You have any hardware stashed nearby? I think I'd rather go in there with too much firepower than not enough."

Roman cracked a little grin. "Oh, don't you worry. I'll have plenty of toys for everyone to play with."

"We're seriously doing this shit?" a still-uncertain Emerald asked. "With her?" Even Violet got a suspicious look. "With them? How do we even know there's still a White Fang left after what happened at Beacon?"

"Sweetheart, I've done my homework. You worry less about the background and more about making sure our plan goes off without any problems." Roman finished his cigar, dropped it onto the wooden floor, and crushed it out before casting a wry look at Emerald. "And for god's sake, go take a dunk in the river or something. You smell as bad as he looks."

Mercury glared as Roman pointed his way. "Excuse you?"

"Ha!" He waved for Neo to follow him out the door. "Let's walk and ta-uh, you know what I mean."

While he ventured outside with his partner, Schwarze and Indigo kept on talking in muted whispers and motioning at the table. Violet slipped over to join their conversation, but Mercury stepped idly away to look out the bay windows. Emerald could not stop staring at Indigo. "What?" she finally snapped.

The thief flinched for an instant. "Do you…"

Indigo looked up fully and crossed her arms. "Do I what?"

Emerald finally screwed up the courage to meet her agitated gaze head on. "Do you really think he's dead?"

She couldn't help but turn her back on everyone while struggling with the question. A moment later, an angry "It doesn't matter either way," came out. "Pyrrha either killed him, or he's ditched Vale and left _us_ to die. We're in the same boat regardless."

"If he is still kicking, I'll need to buy him a beer for Mountain Glenn," Violet said quietly. When Indigo growled at her sentiment, she tensed up and scooted away slightly. "Or not. Never mind."

"Whatever. I'm done talking about him." Indigo returned to her spot at the table and went back to looking at the map. "Now, pay attention. We've got one shot at this and I'm not losing my chance to get out of here because one of you fucked up."

"Fine." Emerald put on a more business-like air, but she still had questions. "I'm still not sure why Roman would want _your_ help."

Indigo shuffled through a few of the papers. "I was stationed at this post. I know how it operates."

"Hold on, so you must know these soldiers too, right?" Mercury interjected. "You're willing to kill them to help us?"

Instead of answering right away, Indigo shrugged her shoulder. The barrel of her sniper rifle lolled into the light. "You see the rings on this rifle?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mercury acknowledged, "What about 'em?"

"Take a guess what they stand for." She stared down the two criminals; Emerald could only meet her gaze for a few seconds, but Mercury kept staring right back until she smiled at him. "Uh huh. Now, if you're done asking stupid questions, let's get to work."

* * *

The solitude had come close to driving Yang insane, despite having been alone for only two hours. While a part of her was glad to be back home in Patch, it was what she'd been forced to leave behind that dimmed her mood immensely. Not having Ruby around was even worse than the new accessory she'd picked up thanks to Opher: a cane. Every other step through her silent house sent shooting agony through her right hip. She needed the black-lacquered stick to help hold her weight; her leg wasn't capable on its own. Not yet, she reminded herself forcefully, but as the days dragged on, she wondered exactly when her Aura would finish the job of healing it. An abrupt knock at the nearby front door was a welcome distraction, even if it took her several seconds to hobble over to answer. On the stone stoop stood an anxious Blake Belladonna. Yang cocked her head a bit, unsure how to greet her partner. She finally settled on a weird smile.

"You're looking-" Blake noted the cane and realized she'd probably said the wrong thing. A further examination proved her right; while she was used to the disheveled state of Yang's her, the girl lacked her usual energy and languished miserably on her feet. "I mean… never mind."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Come on." She limped aside for Blake to enter and closed the door. "Thought you'd ditched us. What's up?"

"A lot. I'm sorry for going quiet." She cast a long look at the morning sunlight that streamed in through the windows. "Adam was part of the Academy attack. He must have been looking for me."

"That's just great." Yang slumped awkwardly into a well-worn blue recliner and sighed hard. "Is he still looking for you?"

"I'm not sure. He vanished after Beacon fell." Blake decided to take a seat herself on the nearby couch. "I wanted to keep my distance from all of you just in case. I, um, apologize for disappearing."

Yang couldn't muster enough emotion to care either way. She replied with a light shrug and an "Eh," before adding with a tiny smile, "At least you explained why. I was pretty pissed that you just dumped me at the shelter."

Blake pawed at the nape of her neck, suddenly unable to keep eye contact. "I can imagine." Unfortunately, her eyes were now on the black cane. "Dare I ask what happened?"

The blonde's face lit up with anger. "That asshole's ice sculpture dislocated my fucking hip, that's what." She needed a few deep breaths through her clenched teeth to stay calm. "I'm out of action until I can walk again. They're talkin' about rehab, but it seems like every doctor on the island is over in Vale until things settle down." With some effort, she sat up straight in the chair. "Speaking of which…"

"Mm. I wish I had some good news. It feels like Vale is rotting away on the vine. The panic has stopped, but the people are… broken." Blake adjusted her bow with a frown as she looked toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "How is Ruby?"

"She's not here."

This was news to Blake. "What? But I thought-"

"Nope. The Army snatched her from Pyrrha and I have no idea where she is." Yang let the weight of her words push her back down into the recliner. "Uncle Qrow's been passing me messages from the city, but he doesn't know much."

Blake thought on this for a moment before asking, "Where is Weiss, then?"

"General Ironwood has her locked up in the Government District in Vale with Pyrrha and the rest of Team JNPR. I don't know why. I don't even know-" Yang's throat tightened up, making her next words a struggle. "I don't even know if Ruby is alive. They won't tell Uncle Qrow what's going on."

While Blake instantly thought of a reason for Ruby being sequestered, it couldn't have been anymore palatable than whatever Yang was thinking. She dismissed the thought too late, however; the blonde caught her expression and leaned forward again. "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?" she asked.

"What if they're keeping her out of sight to stop her from causing another panic? She did a _lot_ of damage to Vale." Blake's head tilted curiously as she watched Yang rest her chin in her hand and look off. "It's just a thought."

"I know." A bitter tinge colored the blonde's features. "I couldn't even dent him and she… she levels a tenth of the city kicking his ass with Pyrrha? How is she…" Bitterness contorted into the vague shadow of jealousy, a shade Yang fought hard to dismiss. "How is she _that_ much stronger than all of us?"

Blake had no comforting words to give. "I don't know," she replied quietly. "I don't know much of anything anymore."

"Oh, yeah. I get how you feel, trust me." Yang stewed in silence until another knock rang out from the front door. "I sure am popular today. Wonder who that is?"

"I'll get it." Blake approached the door with one hand on the hilt of Gambol Shroud, only opening it after a peek out the nearby window to see who waited outside. "Mister Branwen," she greeted Qrow. "We were just talking about you."

"No wonder my ears were burnin'. Blake, right?" He nodded to her before turning his attention to Yang. "Finally got a chance to get out here and see you. Sorry it took so long." Watching his niece struggle to get to her feet broke his heart; he hid his sadness with a snarky smile. "How're you holding up?"

"How do you think?" she replied, seemingly ready to throw her cane in frustration. "Please tell me you've got some good news about Ruby. _Any_ news. I'm losing my mind over here."

"Uh, well?" Qrow looked for somewhere to rest his broadsword while trying to frame what he knew. "I saw her for a little while last night. She's fine, but she doesn't remember what she did." He let Yang have her sigh of relief before bringing up the bad news. "Problem is, they're not letting her leave the Government District. King's orders."

"God damn it!" Yang shouted at him. "Why not?!"

While Blake winced a bit and retreated, Qrow maintained his calm demeanor. "The Army thinks she's as much of a threat as the Grimm are."

The blonde grew even more upset in spite of knowing that their sentiment was fairly valid. "That's fucking stupid! She's harmless!"

Instead of denying her that untruth and making her even more furious, Qrow moved on to a different subject entirely. "Easy. Where's your dad?"

"What?" Yang's brain processed the question a moment later. "Oh. He went to the port to see if they're allowing ships in yet." The blonde continued to cool off as she sat down again. "We can't catch enough fish to feed the refugees. If the cargo ships aren't allowed to dock pretty soon-"

"Yeah, yeah." Qrow looked away and sighed. "It's pretty bad everywhere."

"Everywhere?" Blake interjected. "Do you mean the other kingdoms, too?"

At this, Qrow shrugged. "Dunno what's going on in Vacuo or Mistral, but Atlas? Well, suffice it to say that they're acting a bit more tight-assed than usual." He looked back to Yang. "Actually, they might be able to solve our Ruby problem."

The blonde couldn't figure out what the northern kingdom had to do with her sister. "How?"

The old Huntsman put a more genuine grin on his face. "I've heard whispers about Ironwood pulling Pyrrha and her team out of the city and movin' 'em to Atlas. Thing is, I think the King wants Pyrrha around in case Ruby loses it again. They're gonna want people to keep an eye-"

"I'll go pack right now." Once again, Yang fought to get out of the chair and to her feet; this time, however, she couldn't stifle her frustration. "Fucking-ugh!" When Blake shuffled nearer to assist, the blonde waved her off. "No. I wanna do this myself."

"Are you-"

Yang forced herself upright before she could even finish the question, and paid a heavy price in pain. "See?" she hissed, "Got it. No problem."

Blake simply crossed her arms with a frown. "You are a terrible liar."

"Ain't she, though?" Qrow peeked out the front window. "Hey, blondie, let me explain all this to your dad, all right? It's probably best he hears it from me." Blake also received a glance. "You going with her? I'm sure Ruby and Weiss would be glad to have the team back together."

"I…" Blake looked at Yang for a long, silent spell. "If she wants me, yes."

"Well, duh." The blonde steadied herself and donned the best smile she could. "Do you think we'll get to see Jaune and the guys before they leave?"

"Not sure." Qrow made himself comfortable on the couch in order to wait for Taiyang. "Depends on when Ironwood does whatever he's planning."

Something about his wording struck Blake as odd. "Planning? I assumed he was just taking them back to Atlas for security reasons."

"Yeah." Qrow's eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't know him like I know him. I somehow doubt that's all he's got in mind."

* * *

The relatively serene view from Pyrrha's balcony was almost enough to fool her into thinking things were normal, save one distant anomaly: Beacon's smoking tower. It felt like the structure was leaning a little more each afternoon she came to check on it. A few small Nevermores traced lazy circles in the cloudless sky above, but thankfully none of them found anything upon which to dive. The redhead laid her arms on the railing before her and watched as they coasted on the wind. Hearing the double doors open behind her, she turned and found Jaune. "Oh, hello." His expression, though a smiling one, told her he was bearing bad news. "Something the matter?"

"I think Ironwood wants to talk to you again." Jaune stood at her right side and looked at the tower. "It's still standing."

This fact was a nice, if brief, distraction from her suddenly rising anger. "For the moment," she muttered with displeasure.

"Um, I know you don't want to listen to him, but-"

"I should be out there, helping them," Pyrrha snapped, "not stuck in this palace while everyone else in the city is reduced to living in-" She turned away from him with a huff and clenched her fists tightly. "I am not going to Atlas. To hell with him. Weiss can leave if she wants, but my place is here." But her face softened quickly as she thought on the consequences of her choice a bit more. "Maybe it's just the Maiden talking, but…"

"I'm pretty sure it's you talking." Jaune wandered around in front of Pyrrha and shrugged. "You always were kinda heroic."

She waited until he looked at her to make her point. "You should go to Atlas when the aid convoy gets here. It's much safer for you there."

"If you're going too, then sure," he stated plainly. "If not, forget it. And besides, I already asked Ren and Nora what they were planning to do. They don't think it's right to leave you here either."

Pyrrha rubbed at her forehead with a frown. "I swear, we must be the most stubborn team to ever attend Beacon."

Jaune snickered a little. "Hey, could be worse." He picked up on the redhead's continued frustration and frowned. "Things aren't too bad, are they? I mean, we've got Penny and the Army keeping the Grimm out. I even heard Glynda say they're gonna have the electrical grid back online soon."

"How long is 'soon'?" she asked evenly, "Because I've heard entirely different things from the General. He says the damage to Vale's infrastructure is so bad it would take _months_ to fix, even without Grimm interference." Pyrrha waved at the tilted tower in the distance next. "And if, no, when, that falls, how long do you think it'll take to clear the campus of Grimm and rebuild? Vale might be isolated for years, Jaune. I have the power to keep this kingdom together. I want someone to let me use it!"

Jaune shrank in the face of her increasing volume until she wrapped up her rant. At that point, he stood up straight again and tried to think of a response. "You know, you don't have to listen to him. Or anybody, really. You're the strongest person in this city next to Ruby. Just do whatever you want, I guess?"

"I'm not going to take control by force, Jaune." This was most definitely the Maiden talking, but Pyrrha couldn't agree more with her ghostly sentiment. "The King and his Council are the rightful rulers. I only want them to give me something to do!" She walked back toward the railing with a deep frown on her face. "I feel like a fairy tale princess stuck in this castle. Then again… I'm really the dragon, aren't I?" She slumped forward and closed her eyes. "They're keeping me locked up because the people are still afraid of me, aren't they?"

"Um…" Jaune could offer her nothing else but a few pats on the shoulder.

"I knew it." Pyrrha rubbed at her head again, this time in a feeble attempt to soothe a headache. "I feel guilty. For having access to power when none of the rest of the city does. For the running water. For dependable meals. I can't stand it, Jaune. I can't stand looking at this dark city every night when I know I could bring it _some_ kind of light."

"If you're looking for something to do…" Jaune and Pyrrha startled and turned around at the sound of General Ironwood's voice. "Excuse me. I didn't mean to scare you."

"How long have you been standing there?" the flustered redhead asked.

Ironwood, hands clasped behind his back, put on a small, but serious, smile. "Long enough. Lady Pyrrha, I couldn't agree more with you, however-"

A narrow-eyed Pyrrha glared him into silence. "I don't think I want to hear this."

"Please, Lady Pyrrha, let me finish." Ironwood moved past them both to look at Beacon's tower. "My intentions are not to spirit you away to Atlas to lock you up in another palace. I have a bigger picture in mind."

"Oh man, do I _not_ like the sound of that," a frowning Jaune said.

"Hear me out, then I'll be happy to hear _you_ out." Ironwood focused his gaze on Pyrrha exclusively. "I don't know the status of the other three Maidens; if I did, I would be more open to letting you out into the field. You might be the only one we have left. That's why I've asked His Majesty to keep you here."

Pyrrha crossed her arms and continued to stare him down. "Then why do you want to take me to Atlas? Does Atlas need me more than Vale? I doubt that very much."

"No, Lady Pyrrha. I want you in Atlas because I have a plan to make you as strong as possible."

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a confused look before the latter uttered a confused, "What are you talking about?"

"It's possible the other three Maidens may have been attacked while all of this was going on. If their powers are now in our enemies' hands, then you need every advantage we can give you." Ironwood glanced at the sky before walking back toward the doors. "Follow me, please."

Jaune was the first to pursue him into the redhead's quarters. "Hold on, are you gonna do something to Pyrrha?"

"I think we both know I couldn't _do_ anything to her." Ironwood continued out into the hallway, where he found Glynda striding towards them. "Did you follow me?"

"You're overreacting to problems we might not even have, James," were the first words out of her mouth as she arrived. "Shouldn't we figure out what we know and what we don't before we take such drastic measures?"

"What measures?" Pyrrha demanded, looking between her and Ironwood.

While Glynda wanted to drive her point home further, she deferred to Pyrrha and stepped back. "Go ahead. Tell her."

"An expedition," Ironwood began. "To Kasserine Pass. I'd like to know the rest of Opher Riese's secrets and to whom they currently belong. Ideally, I want that to be us."

Glynda could hold her tongue no longer. "And you don't think that might lead our enemies right to them? I know you want to make an immortal Maiden, but what if you end up giving that power to our foes?"

"Stop!" Pyrrha bellowed. A few breaths later, she was composed enough to process things and ask, "You want to make me like Opher?"

Ironwood felt no need to sugar-coat the idea. "If they can't kill you, they can't steal the Maiden's power. If the other three are still on our side, I want the same for them as well."

The redhead's headache returned with a vengeance. "I don't know what to say," she finally breathed, leaning on the wall for support. "I was willing to accept the power on a temporary basis, then… for the rest of my life. Now you want me to keep it beyond that?"

"Uh, yeah, this is waaaaay out of bounds," Jaune stated firmly. "It's... I dunno, it's not right."

"Our enemies lack scruples. If we're going to win this war, we must do it by whatever means we can."

Glynda regarded the stone-faced Ironwood with a dour glare. "Spoken like a true General."

"Ozpin would have said the same thing. Eventually." He looked at Pyrrha for a moment before adding, "You have a few days. Whatever you decide, I will abide by. But either way, I would like you to investigate the pass so I know what I do and don't have. It may take a Maiden to go in there and return alive. You're the only one of those we currently have for certain."

"I'll think about it." Pyrrha dismissed both of them with a wave and walked back into her room with Jaune in tow. "Unbelievable. I knew things were bad, but this is a little over the top."

"Right? He's asking a little much. I'd wanna know what's going on first." He bounced on her four-poster bed for a moment. "I guess he's just doing what he thinks is right. I don't think it's right, but what do I know?"

"That's the problem. What do we know? I'm not going to make a decision like this until-" Something red and black peeked around the doorframe and made Pyrrha clam up. "Ruby?"

"Hiiiiii," she squeaked awkwardly. "I saw Professor Goodwitch and General What's-his-name-scary-guy. Are you in trouble?" Pallid, baggy-eyed and lethargic, Ruby looked like a shadow of her usual sprightly self. Even her stance seemed unsteady.

"He wants me to… never mind. It's not important." Pyrrha waved her over to them. "You don't look so well."

"I didn't get much sleep." Ruby looked over her shoulder as she entered the room. "Don't hold out on me. What's going on?"

"Ironwood wants Pyrrha go to Atlas to find out what made Opher immortal so she can be immortal too." Jaune nodded at her gasp of surprise. "Exactly. I think it's a terrible idea."

"Um, has he looked outside? We need Pyrrha here." Ruby fell on Pyrrha's bed with a groan. "'Cause of me, too, I guess."

The redhead's brow twitched a bit. "What do you mean?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You don't have to keep pretending, Pyrrha. I know I did something bad."

"Ruby…" Pyrrha had nothing else to say; without knowing what Ruby knew, she didn't want to bring down whatever might have been left of the comfortable facade they'd been holding up around her.

"Weiss won't tell me _what_ , exactly, but it must have been pretty serious. I mean, they won't let me leave." Ruby sat on the edge of the bed and swung her legs briefly. "Soooo, I guess this is the equivalent of being grounded." Continued silence made her look over. "Are you gonna do it? What Ironwood wanted?"

"I don't know," Pyrrha replied at length. "I want to stay here, but I don't know where to begin. So many people need me."

"Yeaaah, things could be better." Ruby looked out of the open double doors at Beacon's damaged tower. "Does anybody know what happens now?" Both Jaune and Pyrrha shook their heads helplessly at her. "Didn't think so." The quiet only got heavier the longer she let it go on; in desperate need of some space, she stood up and darted out onto the balcony.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha called after her.

"I'm just getting some air," she called back. Her silver eyes went to the one Nevermore still circling above the city. When she looked down, the jagged supports of the skyway bridge she'd brought down caught her eye. Though she didn't clearly remember the event, her heart lurched with anguish regardless. Ruby frowned to herself. "And maybe while I'm out here I can figure out how to put everything back together again too."


End file.
